Coventry NHS staff strike against one percent pay rise

Health workers from Coventry’s University Hospital joined a national four hour walk-out of NHS staff on Monday 13.

The strike action, which is the first launched over pay in thirty years, came in response to the Government’s rejection of the one percent pay rise recommended by the independent NHS Pay Review Body.

Health workers across the board complained of feeling undervalued and unappreciated. The strike included staff on the lowest pay grade of just £15,000 a year.

Lorna Burnham, a cleaner at the hospital, told the Coventry Telegraph how the modest pay rise would have made a “huge difference” to hospital staff struggling to make ends meet.

Staff at University hospital, constructed picket lines for the duration of the strike to protest the Government’s decision. The hospital is local to the University of Warwick and is attended by many Warwick students for regular medical treatment.

The strike action included nurses, midwives, paramedics and other NHS staff, dismayed by the perceived lack of consideration shown by the Government.

The strike was coordinated by Unite, Unison, GMB and the Royal College of Midwives, who have never before been involved in strike action.

Pat McGee, Unite representative at University Hospital, told the Coventry Telegraph: “This is about giving staff the chance to show how they feel and making the public aware how badly people are being paid”.

The action was part of Unite’s month long ‘work to rule’ campaign made in response to these issues over pay.

This campaign, designed to make explicit the efforts and dedication of NHS staff, involves employees doing the bare minimum required of them in the terms of their contract and very precisely following safety and other regulations in order to cause a slowdown.

Measures were put in place to ensure the service provided was not compromised, but West Midlands Ambulance Service urged the public to only call 999 in a genuinely life threatening emergency, to think twice before attending A&E during the period of action, and to call GPs or NHS 111 for advice instead.