Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Real pay talks now or we’ll walk out, say angry nurses
NURSES have given the Tories a five-day deadline to start detailed pay talks or they will begin strikes.
The Royal College of Nursing sent the ultimatum to Health Secretary Steve Barclay after the Autumn Statement.
It follows an initial meeting in which he refused to be drawn on pay and was accused of wasting time.
In the letter RCN general secretary Pat Cullen said: “Unless our next meeting is formal pay negotiations, beginning within the next five days, we will announce the dates and locations of December strike action.”
Nurses want a rise in line with inflation, currently 11.1%, plus 5%.
Mr Barclay said: “We have prioritised the NHS in the Autumn Statement with an additional £6.6billion over two years.
“We have given over a million NHS workers a rise of at least £1,400 this year.
“This is on top of a 3% pay increase last year when public sector pay was frozen and wider cost of living support.”