FERMANAGH health care workers have been told they “should not have to take strike action” after they were informed that any future pay deals will not match those of their counterparts in the UK.
Local employees were left furious after the Northern Ireland Department for Health said they are financially unable to implement the recommended 5.5 per cent pay increase for staff in the North.
It has prompted anger from across the healthcare system, with Fermanagh and South Tyrone MP, Pat Cullen, pictured below, calling on the Stormont Executive to consider how they can support employees.
“Our health care workers are the backbone of our health system and we support their call for fair pay and safe working conditions,” local MP, Pat Cullen, told ‘The Irish News’.
“Health care workers should not have to take strike action to achieve proper pay and conditions.”
The Stormont Executive recently availed of £700 million from the recent UK Budget, with a total of £350 million going towards the Northern Ireland Department of Health.
The Fermanagh and South Tyrone MP feels it’s too little, too late from the UK Government.
“The harm done by 14 years of Tory austerity will not be resolved by one budget,” she said.
“I know that executive ministers are determined to find an agreed way forward and are working constructively with trade unions to achieve an acceptable resolution.”
It was recently reported that the Northern Ireland Department of Health is set to meet with some of the North’s biggest trade unions to detail its plan for improving the pay standard for employees.
“Budgetary decisions by the Executive, including the allocations announced today, mean there is insufficient funding to maintain pay parity for health service workers,” Mr Nesbitt told BBC News.
“That is an extremely regrettable position with potentially serious consequences.”
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