Nursing strike ‘a badge of shame’ for Government
Keir Starmer has urged Rishi Sunak to negotiate with nurses over pay as he labelled the impending strike south of the Border as a “badge of shame” for his Government.
The Labour leader accused the Prime Minister of entering “hibernation” rather than working to get the first ever nationwide strike of nurses called off.
Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were due to walk out today.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) suspended plans to take industrial action in Scotland last month after “positive” discussions with the First Minister, which included a revised pay offer equivalent to an average 7.5 per cent increase.
There were no talks between health secretary Steven Barclay and the RCN scheduled after they fell apart on Monday.
The union has been demanding a pay rise of around 19 per cent, but has indicated it is willing to accept less if UK ministers agree to negotiate, but they have refused.
At Prime Minister’s Quessir
tions yesterday, Sir Keir said all Mr Sunak needed to do to avert the strikes was to “open the door and discuss pay with them. If he did, the whole country would breathe a sigh of relief. Why won’t he?”
Mr Sunak insisted his Government had “consistently spoken to all the unions involved in all the pay disputes” amid a wave of action this winter.
But he conceded there were “millions” of people who will have their care disrupted because of the industrial action.
Sir Keir told him: “Nurses
going on strike is a badge of shame for this Government. Instead of showing leadership, he is playing games with people’s health and there is a human cost.
“After 12 years of Tory failure, winter has arrived for our public services and we’ve got a Prime Minister who has curled up in a ball and gone into hibernation.
“If he can’t act on behalf of patients or nurses, or everyone who wants these strikes called off, then surely the whole country’s entitled to ask what is the point of him and what is the point of the Government
he is supposed to be leading?” The Prime Minister insisted they were standing by the offers recommended by the independent pay review body and claimed the strikes were “Labour’s nightmare before Christmas” because of the party’s links with the unions.
A meeting of the Government’s emergency Cobra committee took place yesterday as ministers arranged contingency plans to limit the strikes’ damage.
Meanwhile, commuters were enduring the second day of severe rail disruption from the Rail, Maritime and Transport
union (RMT) walkout. On the second day of the 48-hour strike, around half of Britain’s rail lines were to be closed all day. Many parts had no services, including most of Scotland and Wales.
Thousands of members at Network Rail and 14 train operating companies were taking action over the longrunning dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
Postal workers in the Communication Workers Union (CWU) were staging a fresh 48-hour national walkout, their third of six days of strikes in the run-up to Christmas.
The RCN has been calling for a pay rise at 5 per cent above the RPI measure of inflation, which was 7.5 per cent when they submitted their request to the pay review board in March. But inflation has since soared, with RPI at 14.2 per cent in September.
Hundreds of Royal Mail workers are meanwhile set to march outside the Scottish Parliament today calling on the First Minister to assist in their pay dispute.
Dave Ward, the general secretary of the CWU, has written to Nicola Sturgeon seeking urgent talks to secure her support in a bid to end the dispute. His move has led to hundreds of union members in Scotland being set to descend on Holyrood to demand the First Minister’s backing and to highlight their claims Royal Mail has been mismanaged.
In his letter to Ms Sturgeon, Mr Ward said: “Royal Mail has announced a number of completely unacceptable job losses, which have been ‘justified’ by their financial mismanagement.
“This is the biggest assault on any group of UK workers in decades, with the senior management of Royal Mail openly calling for postal workers to pay the price for their mistakes.
“Only 18 months ago, our members were praised as key workers that kept the country and the company going during the pandemic.
“It is outrageous that Royal Mail now wants to force through mass job losses, including compulsory redundancies, as part of an assetstripping business plan.
“The company is deliberately running down services available to the customer to justify turning Royal Mail into just another gig-economy employer. We know that many customers and businesses in Scotland, particularly in rural communities, rely heavily on the USO (universal service obligation) and it is imperative we work together to protect it.”
Mr Ward requested a meeting with Ms Sturgeon to discuss the future of Royal Mail staff.
In response, a Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The First Minister will respond to Mr Ward’s letter in due course.”