Hospitals strikes at Pinderfields and Dewsbury

Dozens of NHS workers gathered in the rain this morning to stage a four-hour strike.
TAKING A STAND: Strikers at Dewsbury and District Hospital.TAKING A STAND: Strikers at Dewsbury and District Hospital.
TAKING A STAND: Strikers at Dewsbury and District Hospital.

Nurses and health workers at both Pinderfields and Dewsbury hospitals protested against the government’s refusal to give NHS staff a one percent pay increase.

An estimated 70 people from the Unite, GMB, and Unison unions turned out for the Pinderfields protest, while 40 are said to have attended a protest at Dewsbury and District Hospital.

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Adrian O’Malley, Mid-Yorkshire Health branch secretary of Unison, who was supporting the strike at Pinderfields, said: “Staff have had years of below-inflation wage-rises.

“In real terms, staff have lost about 10 percent in wages in the last five years.”

Cath Pinder, GMB member and Batley Labour Party spokeswoman, who was supporting the strikers at Dewsbury and District Hospital, said: “It’s a national disgrace how our NHS staff are being treated. The independent review made it clear that the one per cent consolidated figure was fair but the government has chosen to ignore the recommendation. We know that morale in the health service is rock bottom at the moment and this ignoring of the pay review will drive it down even further.”

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