STRIKE CHAOS FOR MILLIONS

Teachers, train drivers, lecturers, 999 crews and posties to walk out in space of SEVEN days. It’s...

SCOTLAND is braced for chaos with the most disruptive and widespread industrial action for decades set to engulf the country this week.

Teachers will walk out on Thursday in the first national strike action over pay for almost 40 years, followed by paramedics, academics and university staff, postal workers and train drivers.

A string of NHS workers could also walk out, including nurses, radiographers and physiotherapists, while firefighters will be balloted on strike action.

Amid massive upheaval to everyday life, warnings have been issued over the impact on healthcare as thousands of patients face cancelled appointments and operations.

While emergency and urgent care for seriously ill patients will continue, sources said others could see chemotherapy or

dialysis delayed, depending on their individual circumstances.

Last night, opposition politicians urged the Scottish Government to act.

Scots Tory health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: ‘The SNP’s inaction and failures to engage properly with workers across Scotland’s public sector have left the country facing a wave of strikes in the run-up to Christmas.

‘It should never have come to this but various SNP Ministers have been missing in action and frontline workers who continue to go above and beyond feel they have no option left but to strike.

‘That is particularly prevalent in our health service, where staff have completely lost trust in [Health Secretary] Humza Yousaf.

‘His failure to avoid strike action will have a devastating impact on patients and across our health service. Crucial treatments are going to be cancelled for potentially thousands of patients, meaning lives will be on the line.

‘There is still time for Humza Yousaf and other senior SNP figures to get back round the table with public sector workers, use the money they have at their disposal from the UK Government and avoid this strike action going ahead.’

A number of unions have reached the legal threshold of support for industrial action and Britain is expected to lose more working days to strikes this year than in any other since the 1980s.

Teachers from the EIS union strike on Thursday, forcing the closure of all but a handful of schools, and causing disruption for pupils and childcare headaches for families. They have rejected a 5 per cent offer as ‘wholly inadequate’.

Last month the Government offered all NHS staff a flat £2,205 annual pay rise which on average amounts to a 7 per cent increase.

Nurses paused strike plans on Friday after pay talks were launched, with negotiations set for this week. Colin Poolman, director of Royal College of Nursing Scotland, said: ‘Our members are reporting unsafe staffing levels and patients at risk on a daily basis.’

However, unless the situation changes, Scottish Ambulance Service staff are set for industrial action, with a work to rule by Unite on Friday followed by a full strike by GMB staff next week. Mr Yousaf said contingency talks have been held with the other emergency services and the Ministry of Defence to try to staff ambulances.

But police and fire unions have indicated an unwillingness to step in and the MoD said: ‘We have not received a request for support.’

NHS physiotherapy staff have also backed strike action, while 2,000 members of the Society of Radiographers, who take images such as X-rays to diagnose illnesses like cancer, could strike. Chief executive Richard Evans said emergency and urgent care would be provided but agreed patients would face disruption where appointments could be safely delayed for a short time.

He added: ‘The pay offer is a slap in the face for members.’

Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: ‘Scotland is about to grind to a halt if the SNP don’t act. Strike chaos is the last thing our schools need and it will be catastrophic for our NHS.’

Mr Yousaf said: ‘I am disappointed Unite and GMB members in the Scottish Ambulance Service are taking industrial action. The safety of patients is our top priority and we will work with boards to put detailed contingency plans in place.’

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We are committed to supporting a fair pay offer where the Scottish Government has a role.

‘However, the Government has a fixed budget. Funds needed for public sector pay offers must come from somewhere else in the budget.’

‘Treatments cancelled for thousands of patients’