Healthcare workers in Northern Ireland on 24-hour strike over pay dispute

By Aysu Bicer

LONDON (AA) - Healthcare workers in Northern Ireland are on a 24-hour strike over a pay dispute, marking the first such action in the healthcare sector since 2019.

Members from Unison, Nispa and GMB are participating in the industrial action.

Workers have been told they will receive a 2022-23 pay bonus of £1,400 ($1,718), but Unison's regional secretary said "it's not enough."

The unions warned that they would reiterate their calls for employment for reasonable wages and better service to patients, and would continue their protest if their demands were not met.

Nurses in the UK are also preparing to go on strike on Dec. 15 and Dec. 20 over a pay dispute with the government.

The strike will take place across England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Around 100,000 nurses are expected to participate in the strike, but emergency care services will continue.

Also, more than 10,000 ambulance workers in England and Wales will strike on Dec. 21 and Dec. 28 over low wages, the GMB union confirmed on Tuesday.

Britain is facing a fresh wave of industrial action from nurses, postal workers and university lecturers sparked by a bitter cost-of-living crisis.

The annual inflation rate in the UK jumped to 11.1% in October from 10.1% in September, its highest since October 1981, leading to a fall in real wages.