British nurses stage an unprecedented strike to demand higher wages

in British nurses Which was held this Thursday (15) a Unprecedented strike As a “last resort” to obtain better wages in the face of the cost of living crisis, which is causing growing social discontent in United kingdom🇧🇷

Up to 100 thousand members Federation of the Royal College of Nursing 🇧🇷RCN) from England, Wales and Northern Ireland He must not work from 8 am to 8 pmAfter they rejected the government’s proposal.

“We are with you,” the title states Daily mirror newspaper🇧🇷 According to numerous polls, the majority of Britons are in favor The first national strike in the 106-year history of the Nepal Red Crosswhich will be accompanied by another closing day on December 20.

With posters containing phrases such as “It’s time to pay nurses fairly”, protests were held in front of major public hospitals, such as St. Thomas of London🇧🇷

The Minister of State for Health🇧🇷 Mary CaulfieldL. said Sky News Only in England it will almost cease to happen 70,000 medical appointments and surgeries because of the strike.

“As a nurse, I woke up this morning with a broken heart,” he said RCN General Secretary🇧🇷 Pat Cullenbefore deeming it “tragic to strike until our voices are heard”.

Mark BothroydThe rising cost of living makes it difficult to pay bills, transportation and rent, says a 37-year-old emergency room nurse.

According to Boothroyd, who works at St Thomas’ Hospital, low wages mean that newly trained nurses only work in the field for a year or two before leaving the profession.

These vacancies are not being filled, which increases pressure on other employees.

According to RCN, the In England there are 47,000 nursing vacanciespartly due to “poor wages”.

Many nurses from other European countries left the UK after Brexit, which ended the system that had allowed the British experience to be counted in their home countries.

Feed the children
British public health officials said in September that some nurses had started skipping meals to feed and clothe their babies.

One in four hospitals in England has set up food banks for staff.

RCN condemns that file Nurses’ salaries drop by 20%. In real terms since 2010, the result of several years of Less inflation adjustmentsthat arrived in november 10.7%one of the highest levels in four decades.

The strike takes place during veneration National Health Service 🇧🇷NHS) had been living on finances considered insufficient for several years. And since the pandemic, the queues for medical examinations, including those related to cancer, have been growing.

Health authorities have warned unions that treatments may be affected by the strike, at a time when seasonal respiratory infections, such as influenza, are spreading. Increasing pressure on already overwhelmed hospitals🇧🇷

Despite its extraordinary nature, the RCN strike is the latest on the rise A wave of strikes in the public and private sectorsfrom rail transport to customs officers, postal workers, and teachers.

But government Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak It states that the nurses’ salary demands, which call for the restoration of purchasing power, cannot be funded from public coffers that have been shaken after the pandemic.

“Our nurses are incredibly dedicated to their work and it is unfortunate that some union members are going ahead with the strike,” he said. Minister of Health🇧🇷 Steve Barclay🇧🇷

After insisting that he had negotiated with “health professionals outside the public sector to ensure safe levels of staffing”, the minister declared his “concern about the risks to patients of the strike”.

“These are trying times, but we fully accept the recommendations of the independent NHS Pay Review Body to give nurses a pay increase of at least £1,400,” he said, before emphasizing that more could not be done.