Ambulance workers strike again as Britain’s health service crisis grows

Backdated pay

The government has so far refused to countenance reopening public sector pay rises for the current tax year, saying ministers have followed in full the recommendations of independent pay review bodies.

But the unions have also stood firm, saying extra pay for this year is a key demand. The backdating proposal could be a creative workaround, allowing all sides to say they haven’t compromised on their principles.

Asked whether the Treasury would be open to a request from Barclay for backdated extra pay for healthcare workers, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman, Max Blain, declined to comment on Tuesday. He said he wouldn’t be drawn on conversations that take place between government departments.

The legislation put forward by Mr Shapps also covers healthcare, education, nuclear decommissioning, border security and other modes of transport, but those sectors will be subject to voluntary agreements on minimum service levels, the government said last week. 

“We hope to reach minimum service agreements so that we do not have to use the powers,” Mr Shapps told the Commons. 

The legislation would allow employers to fire striking workers in essential sectors and sue trade unions if they fail to provide a minimum level of service, a person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg last week.

Labour’s promise

While Mr Shapps estimates the bill will take less than six months to pass, it will face stiff opposition from the unions and the Labour Party – whose leader Keir Starmer has vowed to repeal it if passed.

The Trade Unions Congress on Tuesday called on lawmakers to reject what it dubbed the “sack key workers bill”.

“If passed, this bill will prolong disputes and poison industrial relations – leading to more frequent strikes,” TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said in a statement. “This legislation would mean that when workers democratically vote to strike, they can be forced to work and sacked if they don’t comply. That’s undemocratic, unworkable, and almost certainly illegal.”

After a meeting of union chiefs on Tuesday, the TUC said it will hold a “protect the right to strike” day on Feb 1 with events around the country inviting the public to show their support for labour rights. Nevertheless, the response fell short of a coordinated strike across multiple unions, a prospect which had been mooted ahead of the meeting.

Mr Shapps told Times Radio that “every other European country has some form of minimum safety in place,” and that the government wants “to make sure we’re doing the same thing to protect the British people”.

His department last week said that the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and France “all balance the right to strike with ensuring continuity of public services”, and that UK provisions won’t go as far as some countries, “who ban outright strikes in ambulance and fire service”. BLOOMBERG