(Bloomberg) — U.K. health workers will strike in January and February as a dispute with the government over pay escalates, two labor unions announced.
Members of Unison will walk out for 12 hours on Jan. 29 and 24 hours on Feb. 25, the union said in a statement today. The planned action follows two four-hour strikes in October and November, and the January protest will coincide with a 48-hour strike by ambulance workers from the GMB union.
“Our members’ pay has been frozen or held down for the past five years and there is no end in sight,” said Christina McAnea, Unison’s head of health. “We now have no option but to escalate and plan for longer strikes. The anger among health workers has reached levels where they are now ready to walk out for 24 hours.”