The UK government’s latest effort to avert more strikes in the beleaguered health service was an “insult” according to a senior union representative who emerged from talks Monday and said that industrial action will go ahead.
(Bloomberg) — The UK government’s latest effort to avert more strikes in the beleaguered health service was an “insult” according to a senior union representative who emerged from talks Monday and said that industrial action will go ahead.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government scheduled talks with union leaders representing workers across a number of sectors in an effort to stop a tide of industrial action sweeping Britain. Ambulance workers are set to strike Wednesday, having walked out last month, while nurses have dates set for later in January.
Some of the talks, which cover the rail network and education system as well as the National Health Service, are ongoing. But Onay Kasab, national lead officer of Unite, which represents ambulance workers, told broadcasters that ministers had “missed yet another opportunity to put this right.”
Kasab said the government would only consider higher raises if the NHS found productivity savings at a time when many staff are already working long hours. “For the government to be talking about productivity in exchange for a pay award is an insult to every single one of our members,” he said.
The GMB union, which also represents ambulance workers, said the strike would go ahead. It said the talks “fell well short of anything substantial.”
The Royal College of Nursing said the meeting was “bitterly disappointing.”
“There is no resolution to our dispute yet in sight,” said Joanne Galbraith-Marten, a director from the union. “Ministers have a distance to travel to avert next week’s nurse strike.”
Still, there were more positive signs of efforts to end rail strikes. Transport minister Huw Merriman said negotiations with the RMT union were “constructive.” The RMT said discussions would continue throughout the week.
A series of rail strikes during the first week of 2023 will be followed by walkouts by ambulance workers and staff on the Elizabeth Line this week. The boss of one of Britain’s biggest transport unions has called for coordinated strikes involving tens of thousands of public sector workers.
Trade union leaders from various sectors were invited to talks on Monday. Sunak told broadcasters ahead of the meetings that it was “really positive” that union chiefs had accepted the call for discussions.
“We’ve always said that the government is happy to talk about pay demands, pay issues that are anchored in what’s reasonable, what’s responsible, what’s affordable for the country,” Sunak said. “The most important thing is those talks are happening and let’s try and sit down and find a way through.”
A meeting between Merriman, the transport minister, and rail unions started around 9.30 a.m. while labor groups representing health workers started meeting ministers in the late morning.
Unions want immediate pay improvement, but the government is more willing to talk about public-sector wage settlements for 2023-24. Sunak’s government has signaled it won’t sweeten the package for 2022, which is what has triggered the strikes.
The Guardian reported Sunak may be open to a one-off payment to workers, but when asked about that prospect, the prime minister told broadcasters he wouldn’t comment on “specifics.”
Unions have also been angered by government plans to bring in new legislation enforcing minimum service levels during strikes.
Restless Tories
The slew of strike action and scenes of disarray in the health service are becoming an increasing political problem for Sunak and distracting from attempts — notably in a speech last week — to assert his leadership.
That’s left him under pressure from members of his own Conservative Party and the wider public to fix the mess. With probably less than two years until the next election, his Tory party is more than 20 points behind the main opposition Labour Party in the polls.
The industrial action is also dampening economic activity in a country which is already likely to be in recession — it remains the only G-7 economy with GDP below pre-Covid levels.
Monday’s meeting comes after Sunak hosted a “recovery forum” of health professionals and officials at Downing Street on Saturday to address issues including improving emergency treatment and speeding up social-care discharge.
He left the meeting “with a renewed sense of confidence and optimism that we can get to grips with this problem,” Sunak said on Sunday. “The NHS is undeniably under enormous pressure.”
Price Warning
In the same appearance, Sunak said it’s not guaranteed that inflation will slow this year and stressed the need for continued wage restraint.
Easing inflation “is a function of having a responsible economic policy when it comes to things like pay,” Sunak said in a BBC interview. “It’s not a given that it just happens. You have to continue to be disciplined and make the right, responsible decisions.”
Surging energy costs due to Russia’s war in Ukraine propelled inflation above 11% last year, setting off a cost-of-living crisis. Sunak says curbing price gains is his top priority and the reason he’s been resisting calls to accept large pay demands in the public sector as they could further stoke inflation.
That position has come under increasing strain amid widespread disruption in the UK, most acutely in the NHS where a resurgence of Covid-19, the winter flu and industrial action — including the first major nurses’ strike in history — have forced hospitals across the country to declare critical incidents.
As part of their effort to ease the crisis, the government said Monday it earmarked £200 million to buy thousands of extra beds in care homes and other settings to help discharge more patients who are fit to leave hospital. An additional £50 million of funding was announced to fund new ambulance hubs and facilities for patients about to be discharged.
Meanwhile, nurses have been pushing for a 19% pay rise and recently urged the government to meet them “halfway” on their demands.
–With assistance from Joe Mayes and Emily Ashton.
(Adds detail on rail strike negotiations in eighth paragraph.)
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