UK nurses to go on strike

Britain’s Conservative government is on a collision course with NHS nurses who are threatening to go on strike if their wages are cut.

The Royal College of Nursing announced on Monday that it will take industrial action if the government goes after its election promise of a “truly seven-day NHS”.

In his first major speech since winning the election on Monday, Prime Minister David Cameron promised to recruit 5,000 more general practitioners and change the way the staff works to create a "seven-day" health service.

The health workers are accusing the Tories of attempting to bring in privatization via the back door and trying to dismantle a service that mean free at the point of delivery since 1948.

"Nurses are saying and we understand the need for providing services but there aren't enough of us so what are we all going to do? work extra hours or are you going to cut our pay and or conditions even further to employ more nurses from abroad? how are you going to manage this? And the fact that they've never been on strike before in over 100 years in existence the Royal College of Nursing and now they're talking that way shows the stress that they're under," health activist, Joss Bell told Press TV.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has called any talk of strikes ‘ridiculous’ and ‘jumping the gun’ accusing the union of "grandstanding". But nurses unions and other NHS representatives are saying it might be the only course of action available to them.

The general secretary of the country’s largest and oldest union, Peter Carter told The Independent that any “attacks on unsocial hours or weekend working payments” would be a “red line” for nurses.

“I would particularly give a really strong warning to the Secretary of State: any attacks on unsocial hours, weekend working payments, would be strongly resisted,” he said. “While we don’t want industrial action, I do feel that for nurses that would be a red line.”

It is not only nurses that feel distrustful of the NHS in Conservative hands. David Cameron has assured the public the NHS is ‘safe’ with his party and has even pledged to increase funding by at least £8 billion a year. But this isn't all it seems, warns Bell.

"David Cameron and Jeremy Hunt have simply produced £8 billion in conversation in interviews before the election and when they were asked and they were arcs the total of 60 times including questions to George Osborne the chancellor 60 times they were asked in total about where this 8 billion Was to be found and 60 times the three of them between them could not identify where a single penny was going to come from. Well I'm sorry that does not give me any hope in their credibility for actually solving this."

About 400,000 NHS workers went on strike last October over a pay dispute. The first industrial action in 32 years was called after the Health Secretary refused to increase wages. However, Hunt later averted further strike action by offering a one-percent pay rise to those earning up to £56,500 annually.

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