Tears on the
picket line
By Julie Waters
LOCAL nursing staff say they were ‘brought to tears’ by strong public support as they stood on the picket line for two days in a bid to secure safe staffing and fair pay.
Nursing staff from across Newtownards and the wider Ards peninsula, many boasting decades of experience, braved freezing and wet conditions when they joined colleagues across the province, England and Wales in the largest NHS strike in its 106 year history.
Sharing their experiences of working in a health care system in ‘crisis’, many nurses spoke of growing staff shortages, fears for patient safety, low morale and growing financial pressures.
Concerns were also raised about the number of nurses having to avail of Foodbanks to feed their families and the spiralling petrol costs as they provide care in the community.
As a result of the strike action, a number of non-emergency care services were disrupted across the South Eastern Trust area but emergency care was still provided.
Last Thursday’s walk out was the second time in three years that nurses across Northern Ireland took to the picket line to appeal for safe staffing and fair pay. Nurses returned to the picket line on Tuesday after talks between the unions and the government remained in deadlock.
Nurses are asking for a 5% pay rise above inflation but the government has stated this is simply unaffordable in the current economic climate. Unlike other devolved nations, nursing staff across Northern Ireland have yet to receive a formal pay deal for 2022-23.
Lee Edwards, picket supervisor at Newtownards hospital, said he had come out onto the picket line as the healthcare system he had worked in for over three decades was in ‘crisis’.
He said: “I have worked in the care sector since 1990. It is the staffing, that is why I am here (on the picket line). Our nurses can’t cope and on the back of that we have had over a decade of cuts. It has just got to crisis level, with the cost of living crisis on top of it.”
Mr Edwards said: “Our staff that go out and do district nursing, they can’t afford to fill their cars with petrol. It costs them to go to work.”
Calling for pay parity with their colleagues in Great Britain, Mr Edwards welcomed the public support shown for the strikers.
“There is a lot of public support, you just have to listen to people tooting their horns. All we are asking is for some sort of pay award to redress the 10 years of pay cuts.”
Dundonald’s Janie McCune, who has worked for the health service for 26 years in roles such as district nursing and as a phlebotomist, explained why she was returning to the picket line.
“It is the same reason that brought me to the picket line in 2019, parity with the rest of the UK salaries and support for my nursing colleagues who are under pressure due to the lack of staff, it is shocking.”
Sharing her passion for her profession, Janie said: “I love it, it is not a job it is a calling.”
She spoke of the support shown by the public for their strike action saying: “The public have showed us a lot of support, people have been stopping by, patients from two years ago who had a stroke brought us a box of sweets and brought us all to tears.”
She said: “Being on the picket line brings us to tears. We want to be in our place of employment, meeting with patients, providing patient care, we are being forced here.”
Portaferry staff nurse Lisa Donaghy, who works out in the community, has enjoyed providing care for her patients for the past nine years.
She said: “I absolutely love my job. We are here to ensure safe staff levels and to advocate for our patients so they can receive safe care.”
She hoped the public were behind the strike action saying: “I hope the public can see how tired we are, that they can see how understaffed we are. There is not a lot of us and it can’t continue.”
Supporting the striking nurses were the Ards peninsula’s Debbie Barlow, NIPSA branch secretary for the South Eastern Trust, and NIPSA official, Dundonald’s Janette Murdock.
Said Debbie: “We were out on strike last Monday for safe staff and pay and now we are standing in solidarity with the RCN.”
She said: “We have phone calls day and daily from our members who are having to stand at the foodbank in the queues because they can’t afford to feed their families. They don’t want to go out on strike but they don’t have any other option.”
