London: Britain’s health workers announced a fresh round of strikes in January, with their long-running dispute over pay and conditions with the government set to continue into next year.
The new strike dates will heap more pressure on Britain’s state-funded National Health Service (NHS), which is already stretched by staff shortages and record backlogs.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters he was disappointed about the disruption caused by strikes, adding that he was trying to “make the right long-term decisions for the country for everybody’s benefit”.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said thousands of its members would strike again on Jan 18 and 19 over pay after walking out on two days in December.
Strike dates for the nurses union’s members in Scotland are also expected to be announced in the new year after they voted to reject a pay offer from the Scottish government this week. Ambulance workers represented by the GMB union scheduled a new date for action on Jan 11 after suspending another walkout later this month.
Passport control staff
Military personnel standing in for striking British passport control staff appeared to minimise feared disruption, despite an escalating public sector fight for more pay.
Around a quarter of a million passengers were due to arrive at the six airports affected by the border force officers’ stoppage, ahead of the Christmas holiday weekend.
Around 1,000 workers at Heathrow, Birmingham, Cardiff, Gatwick, Glasgow and Manchester, and the southern port of Newhaven, took part in the stoppage organised by the Public and Commercial Services (PCS).
They will walk out every day for the rest of the year, except Dec 27, following stoppages this week by nurses and ambulance workers. Railway workers will stage another strike from mid-afternoon on Saturday until early Tuesday, while highways and postal staff are also in the midst of walkouts.
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