No Deal with British Gov’t: UK’s Paramedics into Strike

By Staff, Agencies

British paramedics will strike this Wednesday after an NHS pay summit ended with no breakthrough - despite hopes that nurses could be given a one-off cash payment.

Ambulance workers will walk out in Trusts across England this Wednesday and on January 23, and nurses are due to follow on January 18-19.

Unions met Health Secretary Steve Barclay to hold their first talks about pay for 2023/24.

At the same time, Rishi Sunak raised hopes that nurses could be offered a one-off payment this winter - to end strikes over their 2022/23 pay deal.

The Royal College of Nursing [RCN] said the meeting was “bitterly disappointing” and there was a "distance to travel" to avert its planned walkouts next week.

Unite negotiator OnayKasab blasted the approach today as an “insult” and said he was “angry”, adding: “The government have missed yet another opportunity to put this right.”

In a furious statement outside the talks he said: “All the government are interested in is saying in order to justify a payment, we need to come up with productivity savings in the NHS.”

“That is absolutely ludicrous. This isn’t a factory we’re talking about. We’re talking about people who are working well beyond their contracted hours anyway just to get the job done.”

He said it was not “any clearer” from the talks whether there would be a one-off payment for 2022/23, as there had been "mixed messages" from the government.

For months it was thought the government would refuse to discuss 2022/23 pay again. And it is thought the overall 4.75% pay rise is still not up for discussion.

But No10 today admitted that despite the 2022/23 pay settlement, “global economic headwinds are putting household budgets under pressure”.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman added of today's talks: “We are happy to listen to the pressures they think they are under, what they think is a fair response and affordable.”

Refusing to deny the possibility of a one-off payment, he said: “We are willing to listen to unions if they want to put forward what they believe is fair and reasonable in this area”.

Rishi Sunak twice refused to deny a one-off payment was on the table, telling reporters: “You wouldn't expect me to comment on specifics.”