Iran Press/ Europe: After British postal workers went on strike for six days, it is now the nurses' turn.
In the latest nationwide strike in Britain, 100,000 nurses went on strike to protest their low salaries and poor economic and living conditions.
A female nurse among the strikers in front of Saint Mary's Hospital in London told Iran Press reporter that the crisis of high prices, low wages, cold homes due to the high cost of energy, a number of nurses going to food banks, and 14-hour shifts are among the reasons for the nurses' strike.
The British nurse quips the government has money for things that are not very humanitarian, but it has no money when it comes to healthcare.
A male nurse among the striking nurses in West London told Iran Press that the government's unfair management during the COVID pandemic and working conditions have endangered the health of patients.
He said that people support the nurses and know that outside London, nurses cannot even buy the food they need.
The head of the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR), Alex Gordon, whose employees have been on strike many times in recent months, also came to support and solidarity with the nurses' strike and told Iran Press that the nurses want to receive a fair wage that is proportional to inflation.
He added that currently, the real salary of nurses has decreased by 20% compared to 10 years ago, and they cannot eat enough food.
Gordon said there are 50,000 nursing job vacancies in the public health care system because there are no applicants with these salaries.
He said that food banks have been established in hospitals, offices, and various employment centers because the employees are not given the necessary wages to meet the essential needs of life.
He underlined that the nurses' strike is also in the government's deliberate opposition to public healthcare because the conservative ruling party is trying to privatize this sector and sell it to American companies, and one of the goals of the strike is to preserve the British National Health Organization.
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Britain's new medical crisis: Nurses go on historic strike
