Nurses vow to ‘carry down racist, anti-working class Government’

Nurses have vowed to “bring this Government down” of their battle for a much bigger pay rise. The name got here because the Royal College of Nursing prepares to vote on extra strike motion subsequent week.

Meanwhile, RCN normal secretary Pat Cullen is to warn that this time, double the variety of nurses may stroll out, hitting “twice as many hospitals”. Yesterday, audio system on the union’s annual congress have been cheered as they known as on members to “strike to win”.

Anna Pichierri, who works in psychological well being stated: “NHS strikes are part of a social and political struggle, to save the NHS but to defeat also this Government – this Tory, racist, and anti-working class Government – and to defend all our public services.”

She known as on nurses to co-ordinate strikes with docs and different healthcare unions to create a “united front”.

She stated: “We are not striking to get back to the negotiating table. We are striking to win.

“We cannot call off the action just because we are called to negotiations, that is when we need to keep the pressure up. This is our strike to win – and we can win.”

Jason Warriner, a charity director who proposed a dialogue on the pay battle, informed the Brighton assembly: “We’ve got to win this campaign.

“We’ve got to bring this Government down and get a fresher vote, not just about pay, but about safe staffing.”

Ms Cullen initially really useful nurses to simply accept the Government’s provide of a 5 per cent rise for 2022-23, plus a one-off fee.

But after they rejected it final month, she known as on the weekend for pay talks to “start off in double figures”.

In her convention speech at this time, she’s going to say: “The health and care system is sailing dangerously close to the wind right now. The conditions feel intolerable for too many nurses and nursing support workers.

“Patients are not dying because nurses are striking, nurses are striking because our patients are dying. It is as clear as that.”

Ms Cullen is urging Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to reopen pay negotiations and “get the job finished” earlier than the NHS’s seventy fifth birthday in July.

She will warn that recent walkouts may finally imply “twice as many nurses take strike action and twice as many hospitals affected by a strike”.

But Ms Cullen, a nurse for 40 years, may also acknowledge that many colleagues are uncomfortable placing.

She is about to say: “I never once met a nurse or support worker who wanted to be on a picket line.

“Many people I spoke to on picket lines were in tears at how far they had been pushed and never thought striking would be a move nursing would ever make.”

Before the congress, Ms Cullen denied her stance over initially recommending the earlier pay provide was “confusing”.

She stated: “Tens of thousands of my members voted to tell the Government their last offer was not good enough, that’s very clear.

“What was the offer? It was basically a consolidated nine per cent over a couple of years, and that’s a really important point.

“And we’re saying to Government, let’s negotiate further and add to it.”

Ms Cullen additionally claimed many nurses have been “living in poverty” and this week’s convention would reveal “harrowing” tales.

The RCN’s six-month mandate for strike motion ran out after the final spherical and a recent poll will open on May 23.

If members vote in favour, it may pave the way in which for what Ms Cullen described as “another six months of industrial action right up to Christmas”.

Yesterday, the gang whooped as A&E nurse Lynsey Curtis-Dawson warned: “Rishi Sunak, are you listening? We aren’t going away. This is not the end of the nursing strikes.”

Nearly 2,700 delegates, representing the union’s 500,000 members are at this week’s convention.