Healthcare workers across Northern Ireland stage strike in pay dispute

Unison and Nipsa members, including at the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS), took to the streets outside City Hall in Belfast to make their grievances over ongoing pay disputes known. Workers across the public sector have been taking industrial action in recent months over concerns that wages are not matching the rate of inflation.

NHS England workers received a pay offer earlier in March but Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Heaton-Harris is responsible for the budget in Northern Ireland in the absence of a functioning executive. In a statement, Unison said its members remain determined not to be ignored.

Healthcare worker Cormac Craig said the strike action was a response to the pay discrepancies workers in Northern Ireland are facing. "We're short-staffed, we're underpaid, in fact we're actually fourth class citizens in the UK based on pay alone," he said. "We're standing here because we've had no offer, every other union in the UK have got an offer from the government, we don't."

Mr Craig added: "We have to be here. We don't want to be on strike, we want to be on the wards, we want to be in our jobs, but they've left us no choice."

The Department of Health said it regrets the impact the industrial action will have. "The department fully understands the frustrations of staff and the severe challenges they have been working under," it said in a statement. "As things stand, the department is not in a position to make a formal pay offer.

"This reflects the current absence of a budget for 2023/24 and the expectation of a significant financial shortfall. "We are potentially facing high-impact cuts on health and social care services that are already under considerable pressure."