NHS strikes: Nurses in Wales have begun a fresh wave of walkouts

Nurses in Wales have once again hit the picket lines as the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) recently rejected the government’s pay offer and have called for pay talks to re-open. 

Today, nurses across the country are striking for 12 hours over two consecutive days. Union members in all but one, Aneurin Bevan, of Wales’s health boards with be walking out.

The Welsh government said it recognised the ‘strength of feeling’ from nurses after the RCN demanded pay talks with the health minister to be scheduled to discuss a better raise. However, the devolved government in Cardiff added it was ‘disappointed’ by ongoing strike action.

Despite todays and tomorrows walkouts including a vast amount of health staff, those involved with cancer care, critical care and some children’s services will be exempt.

The Welsh government has said the average pay award for NHS staff in Wales – apart from doctors, dentists and senior managers – is 15.7% over two years from 2022/23 and 2023/24, 11.2% of which will be permanently in pay packets with the rest made up with one-off payments.

However, the RCN said the pay deal ‘does not go far enough to reward nursing staff fairly and support them with the spiralling cost of living’ as it announced that strike action on 6^th and 7^th June and 12^th and 13^th July will go ahead as planned.

Speaking ahead of the strike action, which commenced at 7am this morning, RCN Wales Director, Helen Whyley, said nursing staff are looking for a ‘fair settlement that shows the government values and understands their profession now and into the future.

‘Until the Minister for Health and Social Services re-opens meaningful negotiations to try to resolve our dispute, we will, once again, stand shoulder to shoulder on the picket lines across Wales.’

‘Nursing makes up the largest portion of the NHS. The Welsh government should head our concerns about patients’ safety and well-being and the nursing profession future,’ Ms Whyley said. ‘We will continue to be guided by our members who are best placed to make decisions on what they consider to be an adequate acknowledgement of their skills and value in the NHS.’

Image: Rusty Watson