No way out of the crisis on the horizon. In the United Kingdom, while strikes by health workers have been linked for weeks, paramedics are observing a new strike on Monday to demand wage increases in the face of inflation. This is the third strike in five weeks for paramedics in the public health service, the NHS, whose nurses were already on strike for two days last week after an unprecedented first mobilization in December.
The social unrest extends to many sectors in the United Kingdom, where inflation reached 10.5% according to the latest figures. But the health sector, hit by chronic underfunding and a lack of staff, is particularly affected. Another massive day of action is set for February 6, as the government pushes through minimum service legislation in several sectors, including health and transport.
Health Minister Steve Barclay said in a statement on Sunday evening that the paramedics’ strike was “tremendously disappointing” and underlined the emergency measures put in place to ensure patient safety. “There has not been a single proposal in five weeks,” denounced the general secretary of the Unite union, Sharon Graham, calling on the Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to negotiate because in his eyes, his Minister of Health has not not “authority” to enter into an agreement.
Negotiations stalled
Where Steve Barclay talks about “constructive discussions” with the unions on wages for next year (2023/2024), the union official warned that the strikers will be “there” until the government decides to negotiate over the current year. “These are the people who were there during the pandemic when we didn’t have a vaccine”, “people were dying, NHS workers were dying”, she insisted on Sky News.
However, she hopes that the day of action on February 6, “a sad day for the NHS”, can be avoided. “The government has the possibility of bringing together the secretaries general” of the unions “any time, we will be there”, she assured, stressing that the health personnel would ensure the safety of the patients.
“Five hundred people die every week while waiting for an ambulance in the fifth richest economy in the world,” she denounced, taking up the high estimate of an organization of emergency physicians, the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, “ it is an absolute national disgrace”.