Strike action: Midwives join health workers on strike

Some of the Unison, Unite and Nipsa members in the health service who are striking for 48 hours gathered outside Belfast City Hall

Midwives and maternity support workers will be taking to the picket lines later as part of strikes by health and social care staff.

They will join in industrial action by Unison, Unite and Nipsa members which began on Thursday.

Northern Ireland health and social care staff remain the lowest paid in the UK.

The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) will join the strike on Friday from 08:00 to 16:00 BST but said care would still be provided to those who need it.

It is part of a number of strikes taking place across Northern Ireland, with civil servants holding a walk out in a pay dispute and staff in further education colleges continuing their week of industrial action.

Karen Murray, of the RCM in Northern Ireland, said that strike action had been paused "in good faith" six months ago, after the union was invited by Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris to discuss pay.

"In those six months, all that's happened is that midwives and maternity support workers have become the lowest paid in the UK and their frustration with politicians has reached an all-time high," she said.

Workers are striking as a dispute over pay continues

"You will see a lot of frustration on the picket lines today, but you'll also see a lot of sorrow, genuine despair at where we find ourselves.

"What we are fighting for here is safety and fairness. The safety of our maternity services is reliant on midwives and MSWs (maternity support workers) but if we don't pay them fairly, they will leave.

"It's as simple and as stark as that - and we're already seeing it happen. Politicians can stem that tide - and they need to do it now."

Northern Ireland health and social care staff have yet to be offered a pay uplift for 2023-24 and received a below-inflation pay award for 2022-23. 

NHS workers in England received a 5% increase in 2022-23 and a one-off payment of at least £1,655.

On Thursday, Conor McCarthy, from Unison, said the strike would have a big impact.

"Everybody knows our health service has been in a terrible situation for a long time so safe staffing is a priority, but it should be a priority seven days a week. It shouldn't be a priority in regards to times of industrial action."

Unite said 4,000 of its members would be joining colleagues from other health unions in one of the biggest strike actions in years to affect the service.

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The Department of Health said it was expecting significant disruption to services as a result of industrial action on both days.

It said that intensive work has been carried out to try to mitigate the impact on the public where possible, but some reductions in service were inevitable.

It said information on how services are affected is being provided on health trust websites.