UK Gov’t to Attempt Last-Minute Talks Ahead of Ambulance Strikes, Reports Say
Healthcare workers hold placards at a picket line outside St Thomas’ Hospital in London on December 20, 2022.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – UK Health Secretary Steve Barclay will hold urgent talks with unions of health workers on Tuesday in a bid to talk them out of holding a massive strike scheduled to take place in less than 24 hours, British media reported. Under trade union rules, striking health workers must provide medical assistance to the patients with life-threatening illnesses or injuries, but Barclay wants to make sure that an ambulance will respond to all emergency calls, media reported, citing sources. “[Barclay] is hoping for a constructive discussion ahead of the planned ambulance strike,” a Department of Health and Social Care source was quoted as saying. The minister will raise concerns over patient safety but not pay, the lead cause of the industrial action, according to the report. Barclay is expected to meet with representatives of the GMB, Unison and Unite unions ahead of two waves of strikes scheduled for December 21 and 28 in England and Wales, where more than 10,000 ambulance workers will participate. The first wave took place on December 15. Workers of multiple industries have gone on strikes in the UK in recent months to demand pay raise amid record inflation and growing food and energy prices. The UK government has asked the military to cover up for striking ambulance services in December.
