Health workers set to strike next week

UNISON members in the health service in Northern Ireland will take to picket lines next week.

On Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd of September ambulance crews, nurses, health care assistants, pharmacists, radiographers, porters, admin and technical staff, cleaners and catering will go on strike for 48 hours. Payroll staff will strike for a shorter period to ensure their co-workers receive their pay on time - a decision highly commended by their union colleagues.

UNISON members in the health service have said they are ‘fed up’ with the current impasse in ‘their just pursuit of pay parity’.

A UNISON statement said: ‘They have decided not to remain silent as politicians dither and delay a resolution of their political differences. They have resolved to continue demanding that the Secretary of State use his powers of economic governance to include funding for the restoration of pay parity.’

‘NHS workers in England and Wales had their pay uplift since from April this year.

‘Why should health staff in Northern Ireland have to wait? No amount of finger pointing at local politicians justifies this appalling situation.

‘UNISON members have no intention of staying silent or just putting up with it.’

In a statment the Department of health said it 'recognises the right of staff to participate in industrial action. While this will inevitably have an adverse impact on services available to our population, planning is already underway to minimise any disruption, where possible.'

A DOH statement added 'it is facing severe budgetary pressures and has explained that, despite the significant efforts being made to achieve savings, those pressures mean it is currently unable to make a pay offer to health and social Care staff. Funding a pay offer under the current budget settlement would require large scale cuts on an unprecedented scale, with severe and lasting implications for health and social care services. This is a regrettable position which all efforts are being made to address.

'This was set out publicly in May when an Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) on the Department’s 2023/24 budgetary settlement was published for public consultation. The Department made clear that, as things currently stand, it will not be possible to offer a pay award.

The Permanent Secretary stated: “I am very aware of the potential impact this could have on staff and on industrial relations.”

The Equality Impact Assessment says on the pay situation: “It is recognised that this is not the position we would want to be in: appropriate reward and recognition for our staff is clearly an important part of demonstrating that we value the work that they undertake. This will be kept under review as the budgetary position develops during the year, with every effort being made to maximise those cost reductions that will not impact on services in order to enable a pay offer to be made. However, it is important to recognise that without significant additional funding being made available, any such offer will inevitably fall short of expectations.”

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