Talks to resolve strikes end with little progress, unions say

As reported by the BBC, talks with ministers aimed at resolving NHS strikes have made little progress, unions have said

Unite said the meetings were ‘a missed opportunity’, while the Royal College of Nursing said they were ‘bitterly disappointing’.

Unison said there were discussions over pay but no ‘tangible concessions’ which would enable this week’s ambulance strikes to be called off. But a government source described the talks as useful and constructive.

Ministers have also been meeting teaching and rail unions in a bid to avert further industrial action.

Unions are calling for pay rises to keep up with the rising cost of living but ministers say any offer must be ‘affordable’.

Speaking ahead of the meetings, prime minister Rishi Sunak said: “People need to get talking, that’s what they’re doing, hopefully we can find a way through this.”

He did not deny that his government could follow Wales by offering a one-off payment to public sector workers to ease the cost of living.

Following discussions at the Department of Health, Unite negotiator Onay Kasab said the government had suggested that any one-off payments would have to be based on “productivity savings”.

He said that some of his members were working 18 hour shifts and that it was “an insult” to discuss productivity.

“We are extremely angry,” he added.

Other ambulance union representatives leaving the meeting were slightly more positive, with Sara Gorton from Unison saying there had been progress.

“We did actually manage to talk about pay – we didn’t get the tangible concessions that we might have hoped for that would enable us to call off the [ambulance worker] strikes later this week,” she said.

Rachel Harrison, from the GMB union, said the talks “fell well short of anything substantial that could stop this week’s strikes”. There was “some engagement on pay” but “no concrete offer”, she said.

Joanne Galbraith-Marten, from the Royal College of Nursing, said there was “no resolution to our dispute yet in sight”.

This week’s strikes – which include planned walkouts by ambulance drivers, bus drivers, teachers and driving examiners – are all expected to go ahead.

Nurses are also set to walk out for two days next week.