Midwives and physiotherapists announce strike on same day
MIDWIVES in Wales are to stage an eight-hour walkout on the same day that thousands of nurses and physiotherapists are also due to go on strike, it has been announced.
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) said that its members in Wales – including midwives and maternity support workers – are to walk out from 8am to 4pm on February 7 in a row over pay.
During industrial action, midwives will provide “bank holiday cover” to ensure women in labour or those in need of emergency care still get the support they need, the union said.
They will also be taking industrial action short of a strike by claiming payment for any overtime worked in the week following strike action, it added.
The action will coincide with strikes due to be staged by members of the Royal College of Nursing, who are due to walk out on February 6 and 7.
Twelve organisations in Wales will see nurses walk out alongside colleagues at 73 organisations in England.
The RCM said that it, along with other health unions, is in discussions with the Welsh Government – but as yet has not received an offer that would halt any industrial action.
Julie Richards, the RCM’s director for Wales, said: “There is a growing crisis in Welsh maternity services.
“We are losing midwives because they simply cannot sustain the incredible effort they are having to make to ensure services are safe.
“They have also seen a decade and more of pay freezes and pay stagnation watching their pay packets significantly shrink with real terms pay cuts.
“To offer them a pay deal well below half of the rate of inflation is simply an insult that does a massive disservice to our maternity staff.
“Our members have made the decision to take industrial action after a great deal of thought and very reluctantly because their first concern is for the women, babies, and families they care for.
“However, they have been corralled into a dead end by government and see no other option than take a stand for what they know is right for them, and most importantly for women.
“Midwives and maternity support workers, along with their maternity colleagues are keeping maternity services afloat, but they can no longer bear that load.
“They are working long hours, often beyond those they are paid for and they are exhausted, fragile and simply at the limits of their endurance.
“This cannot go on because if it does, we will continue to lose staff the service can ill afford to.
“Now is the time for the Welsh Government to act on their concerns and to reward these dedicated public servants with a decent pay deal, and tackle the serious problems facing Welsh maternity care.”
The development came as thousands of ambulance workers again walked out on Monday and physiotherapists in Wales announced that they, too, are to strike in a wider dispute over pay. Members of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) with all Welsh health boards will also walk out on February 7.
It will be the first time physiotherapy staff in Wales have been on strike over pay.
The CSP has held talks with the Welsh Government along with other health unions, but failed to achieve a breakthrough.
Adam Morgan, senior negotiating officer for the CSP in Wales, said: “Physiotherapy staff in Wales will now walk out on a national day of action on February 7, but we will of course continue to meet with the Welsh Government to try to resolve this dispute.
“We want to be able to come back with a fair and firm pay offer that we can put to our members.
“Physiotherapists and support workers voted for strike action because the current pay award was not enough to help them through the cost-of-living crisis.
“It’s not a decision that any of our members in Wales take lightly but the current pay award does not go far enough to address the workforce crisis. No one wants to strike but physiotherapy staff have been left with no choice.
“Patients are struggling to get the care they need because a decade of underinvestment in the NHS has led to chronic workforce shortages.
“It’s vital that there is a decent pay offer, not only to retain current physio staff but to attract new people to the profession.”
Commenting on the physiotherapists’ strike, Welsh Conservative Shadow Health Minister Russell George said: “It is a shame the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay was unable to prevent this declaration of strike action by physiotherapists. The same goes for nurses. And midwives. And ambulance workers. And teachers.
“I know this is a difficult situation across the UK, but we must remember, that this is Labour’s responsibility and, on its watch, Wales has been left in a worse position – we’ve just recorded the worst A&E and ambulance response times on record and we have Britain’s longest waiting list.
“I fear that until Labour ministers retire the weathered handbook that says ‘blame Westminster’ whenever they are challenged for its poor record in office, these strikes won’t end, public services will not recover, and the people of Wales will continue paying the price.”
The CSP had previously announced strike dates of January 26 and February 9 in England. Members in Scotland voted to accept an improved offer at the end of 2022.