Homerton health workers took industrial action for the second time in two months as a “last resort” to persuade the government to increase their pay.
The Royal College of Midwives and UNISON members from more than 10 NHS sectors picketed outside Homerton Hospital from 7-11am on Monday as part of a nationwide strike.
The action followed the government’s refusal of a 1 per cent pay increase for 60 per cent of workers, which had been advocated by the NHS Pay Review Body.
Staff are adamant that their current salaries fail to match rising living costs, and are “unfair and unjust reflections” of their hard work.
One admin worker at Homerton Hospital believed that “hospitals are now running on free will”.
The woman, who preferred not to be named, said: “It’s not as if prices are staying the same. It really is difficult, especially if you live in London.”
Eunice White, who has been a nurse at Homerton Hospital for 34 years, said: “It’s been years since we last had a pay rise. The government have never been sympathetic towards the NHS.”
Health workers in Scotland and Wales were given a 1 per cent pay rise earlier this year that was not granted to their English counterparts. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said last month that increasing the salaries of English nurses could mean thousands of redundancies.
Alice Dawnay, area organiser for UNISON, said that going on strike was “a hard decision for any NHS worker to take”.
“I hope everyone that will take this seriously. I actually trained as a nurse at Homerton Hospital and had my children here so it’s very important to me,” she said.
Members of the public also came out to demonstrate support, including Roisin Macdowell, who gave birth to her son Cormac in the Homerton maternity ward.
She said: “The high level of care we got is because of the amazing work midwives put in. It’s worth coming down and supporting that.”
For a further six days, staff will work to rule, refusing to do anything not specifically outlined in their contracts.
Liz Cummings, the regional officer for the Royal College of Midwives, said that further strikes were likely: “Along with other health service unions the RCM will continue to campaign and further dates of industrial action will be announced.”
“The RCM will continue to negotiate with the government on this issue.”
