Ukraine Solitary Campaign members joined striking nurses and other NHS staff outside St Thomas’ hospital to the sound of drum and constant honking by buses and passing vehicles.
They chanted, waved banners and placards before marching to Trafalgar Square. Nurses were also on strike and on picket lines outside Chelsea and Westminster, University College continuing the first national strike by the Royal College of Nursing in its history.
The RCN has taken a brave stand, voting against the government’s pay offer at the NHS Staff Council meeting on Tuesday, where the majority of unions, including Unison, voted to accept.
Nurses and NHS staff in UNITE the union, the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Podiatry and the Society of Radiographers rejected a paltry 5% pay offer and are continuing strike action in support of their pay demand. .
RCN’s general secretary Pat Cullen has told Steve Barclay, the health secretary, that the union will ballot its 460,000 members later this month on further strike action in June and December.
The RCN is the largest union and professional body for nursing staff in the world.
FACT: Roughly, after all stoppages, Newly Registered Nurses get between £1,650 – £1,850 per month. The current starting salary for a Band 5 Nurse in the UK is £27,055 per year gross.
Photos: Peter Arkell