UK
Nurses urge Sunak to ‘grasp the nettle and come to the table’ for pay negotiations


Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) on the picket line outside St Thomas' Hospital, central London, as nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland take industrial action over pay. Picture date: Tuesday December 20, 2022.

FURTHER national nursing strikes could be averted following a “little shift” in Tory Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s stance, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) suggested today.

General secretary Pat Cullen, due to join other union leaders in a meeting with Health Secretary Steve Barclay today, said there is a “chink of optimism” after the former chancellor suggested he is “keen to talk about pay.”

But a Department of Health and Social Care source insisted that the government’s position remains “unchanged,” with ministers only willing to discuss a settlement for 2023-24 and not this year’s below-inflation 4.75 per cent deal.

Ms Cullen also demanded that the PM, the wealthiest MP in the Commons, “comes clean” after he refused to say whether he uses private healthcare.

Under sustained questioning, Mr Sunak, whose family is thought to be worth £730 million, told the BBC that the issue is “not really relevant,” adding: “As a general policy I wouldn’t ever talk about me or my family’s healthcare situation.”

He declined to describe the NHS as being in crisis, despite Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer warning the health service is not just on its knees but “on its face” amid spiralling A&E wait times and a shortage of GPs.

The RCN, which launched its first ever national strike last month, has repeatedly warned ministers that yet another real-terms wage cut will exacerbate a staff exodus and put unbearable pressure on austerity-hit services.

The union urged Mr Sunak to “grasp the nettle and come to the table” after he told the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme that he wanted to discuss a “reasonable, affordable and responsible” salary deal.

He said: “We are about to start a new pay settlement round for [2023-24], and before that process starts the government is keen to sit down with unions and talk about pay and make sure they understand where we’re coming from.”

Ms Cullen told the same programme: “When I listened to that there was a chink of optimism — there was a little shift in what the PM was saying.

“This is not about negotiations tomorrow, it’s not about nurses’ pay and it’s not addressing the issues of our dispute — addressing pay in 2022-23.”

Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said the PM is “taking our nurses and ambulance workers for fools.”

“These talks are about next year’s pay settlements and will do nothing to resolve today’s issues,” she said.

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