Thousands of health and social care staff in Northern Ireland walked out on a 48-hour strike on Thursday, protesting that they are the lowest-paid in the UK and have not received a pay uplift for 2023-24. The industrial action, involving members of Unison, Unite and Nipsa, includes nurses, ambulance and hospital support staff, and will be joined by the Society of Radiographers and others over the two-day period.
Northern Ireland health workers received a below-inflation pay award for 2022-23, while their counterparts in England were given a 5% increase and a one-off payment of at least £1,655. Margaret McKee of Unison, on the picket line in Belfast, said: 'We are not fourth-class health workers; we are first-class health workers. We are not going to back down.'
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham blamed the Conservative Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris, for enforcing a 'punitive and inadequate budget' on the health department. 'It is scandalous that NHS workers – who only a couple of years ago were being clapped by our politicians – are once again forced onto picket lines,' she said, warning that the pay gap would worsen recruitment and retention.
The Society of Radiographers is striking to address a 10% waiting list for diagnostic tests due to staffing shortages. Cora Regan, its Northern Ireland officer, said many radiography professionals are leaving the region or the profession because of low pay and pressure to work extra hours. The Department of Health acknowledged 'significant disruption' but said it understood the frustration over the ongoing absence of a pay offer.
