Nurses stand strong on picket lines

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Thousands of nurses in England went on strike for a second time yesterday , with picket lines reported to be large and lively and receiving massive public support. The nurses, who are members of the RCN union, are fighting for a larger pay rise than the £1,400 a year below inflation payment that was imposed on them by the government last year. The strikes are part of an effort to defend the NHS, which is currently facing a daily struggle. Activists from other unions such as NEU, Unite, RMT and UCU also came to show their support for the striking nurses.

Our video shows a lively picket braving freezing weather at UCU in London.

Video credit: RovingReporter

Public back the nurse’s strike

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71% of British adults think it’s acceptable for nurses to go on strike for a pay raise, while 74% say it’s acceptable to take industrial action for better patient care (IPSOS survey).

Around one in 10 people were neutral on the subject, while just 16% said it was unacceptable for nurses to go on strike for a pay increase and 13% said it was unacceptable even to secure better standards of care.

The poll of 1,083 British adults found 75 per cent of people who voted Labour in the 2019 general election strongly or tended to support the nursing strikes, compared to 45 per cent of Conservative voters.