UK´s biggest nursing union walks out to stage protest demanding an increase in wages to deal with the high cost of living in the country
After strikes by the British rail unions put the country´s rail network on halt, the biggest nursing union in the country, staged a walkout on Thursday, December 15. According to a report by Euronews, around 100,000 nurses are demanding an increase in wages by 19 percent. They say, their demands are to deal with the rising costs of living and for better working conditions.
The report said, despite the strike, emergency hospital care will continue to work as normal. A statement by the Royal College of Nursing said, the nursing staff will continue working in chemotherapy and neonatal as well as pediatric intensive care units. But less urgent hospital services are expected to be affected across Wales, England and Northern Ireland.
The Royal College of Nursing, the report said, has asked for a pay rise at 5 per cent above inflation, but said that they would accept a lower offer. The British government has responded stating the demand was unaffordable. The protest on Thursday happened after the talks between the two sides on Monday were inconclusive.
The walkout by nurses on Thursday is being describes as the biggest protest by British nurses in the history of the NHS, since its establishment in 1948.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) states that the average salary of a nurse in the UK is €42,000 per annum.
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