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Christmas is just a few days away and in a bid to secure fairer working conditions and better pay, a raft of workers are set to walk out.
Among those striking for better deals include NHS nurses, paramedics, Border Force passport officers, driving examiners and DWP staff, as well as railway workers. It comes as Christmas is one of the busiest times a year for most of these agencies.
To add insult to injury, firefighters are balloting to strike, with lots of civil servant members of the PCS still in talks about when they’ll walk out, reports the Mirror.
READ MORE: Royal Mail issue warning as Christmas post deadlines ‘brought forward’
As nurses are set to walk out, the government has been accused of risking lives, with Health Secretary Steve Barclay still refusing to hold talks on nurses’ pay. Visiting a hospital this morning, Mr Barclay demanded unions “make good on their statements that they will protect those with life-threatening conditions and emergency responses” on Wednesday.
He warned: “That’s what they’ve said publicly, but if for example they only allow staff to respond from the picket line, that will add further delay to the response times which is not in the patients’ interest.”
Despite the health secretary saying his door was open, he refused to come to the table for pay talks. He refused to say if any of his Cabinet colleagues are privately calling for higher pay for nurses.
He told the public “if there’s a need to call an ambulance” people should continue to do so – but warned “there will be impacts on patients”.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We would expect, given this late stage, there to be some sort of disruption either way but it is still in the gift of the unions to step back and reconsider their approach.”
It has been said there are “no-plans” to give NHS staff a one-off payment this winter and it has been said reports No10 had blocked the proposal by Mr Barclay were not accurate.
The spokesman added: “I don’t think that it is accurate. The Health and Social Care Secretary has been working very closely with the Prime Minister, as you’d expect, as indeed have all relevant secretaries of state, on our approach to these pay demands from unions.
“The whole Government is united in its view that the independent pay review bodies are the right way to set the terms and we have accepted them in full.”
But Unite leader Sharon Graham warned Steve Barclay will “have to carry the can if patients suffer” and unions will not “blink first” to break the deadlock. “It’s Steve Barclay who is holding the country to ransom,” she told The Mirror.
Mr Barclay was confronted by a mother of a toddle is suffers from cystic fibrosis. Sarah Pinnington-Auld told him: “The doctors, the nurses, everyone on the ward is just brilliant, considering what they’re under, considering the shortages of staff, considering the lack of resources.
“And I think for me, that’s what’s really upsetting actually.
“Because we have a daughter with a life-limiting, a life-shortening condition. And we have some brilliant experts. And they are being worked to the bone.”
As NHS staff walk out, Tory ministers are prepared to draft in 1,200 troops from the Army, Navy and RAF, plus more than 1,000 civil servants. The Chancellor the Duchy of Lancaster urged unions to call off action and “give the military a break this Christmas”.
Oliver Dowden said it was “not fair” for soldiers to cover and ministers will be “resolute” in their refusal to budge on pay. But union officials say workers have been left with no choice as they stomach another real-terms pay cut.
And it’s a nightmare for their workers too – who sacrifice pay while on the picket. Labour’s Stephen Kinnock suggested Rishi Sunak ’s goose is cooked. The shadow minister said Labour backs sending in the troops – but only because the Tories have left no choice.
He said: “The only true solution to all these issues is a general election ”.
Here are the dates coming up this week.
Monday: Driving examiners in the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber begin a six-day walkout, with other regions staggered up until January 10. Traffic and Vehicle Examiners across the DVSA nationally are also striking from yesterday(SUN) until Wednesday.
Monday: DWPstaff down tools until December 31 at three Jobcentres in Liverpool and a back office in Doncaster. The union expects it to disrupt some interviews. Only 200 or so staff are affected, but more dates are likely to follow.
Tuesday: NHS nurses in the Royal College of Nursing will stage their second nationwide walkout, after last Thursday’s was the first in its 106-year history. The RCN has set a Friday deadline for ministers to reopen pay talks, or it will announce new, more severe strikes in January.
Wednesday: Paramedics in GMB, Unison and Unite will walk out in most regions of England after more than 10,000 backed strike action. GMB paramedics will also strike on December 28. People are told to call 999 only if there is a danger to life. Troops will cover for ambulance drivers but cannot speed or run red lights.
Thursday: National Highways workers in London and South East down tools. All traffic officer service employees in the region are walking out from December 22-25.
Friday: Royal Mail workers walk out once again for two days in a long-running dispute over pay, terms and conditions. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said 115,000 workers are walking out, with images showing post piling up at mail centres. The last posting date for Christmas has already gone.
Friday: Border Force workers who check passports at Birmingham, Cardiff, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow and Manchester Airports are striking from December 23-26 and December 28-31. Troops are being drafted in but Christmas getaways face long delays.
Saturday: Network Rail workers in the RMT have been told not to work from 6pm on December 24 until 6am on December 27. Disruption will be less than recent strikes but RMT general secretary Mick Lynch has warned services will wind down earlier than usual on Christmas Eve, and people should leave early.
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