NI Health: Trade union Nipsa to ballot for health strike

The trade union Nipsa is to ballot health workers for strike action in a dispute about pay, staffing levels and travel reimbursement.

The organisation said it wanted majority support for strike action and action short of strike.

Nipsa's Terry Thomas said it wanted to "redress the years of historical pay cuts".

Last week the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) began to ballot its members for strike action across the UK.

It has called for a pay rise of 5% above the RPI inflation rate of 12%.

Public service union Unison is to also ballot its members in Northern Ireland from 27 October for strike action.

'Unsafe and underpaid'

In Northern Ireland, health workers have yet to receive a pay award for 2022/2023.

In Scotland, the offer is 5%, while in England and Wales, NHS staff are being offered an average of 4.75% or more.

In July, an independent pay review body recommended that health staff in Northern Ireland receive a pay increase of £1,400.

Nipsa (Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance) said its health members had felt undervalued and unsupported by year-on-year pay cuts.

This means in real terms that pay has not matched the rate of inflation and price rises.

"Nipsa members did not create this crisis in the NHS but they are determined to end it," Mr Thomas said.

The Covid-19 pandemic reinforced the "compassion, professionalism and dedication" of public servants, he added.

"But they cannot continue to work in an unsafe environment and be underpaid."