Striking nurses convened today outside parliament as their five-day strike came to an end. But the reasons for it remain unresolved. Indeed, the cause has now been further embraced by other syndicates.
As one stalwart of 30-years service told reporters on lunchtime television, “this is the first time I have ever joined a protest, but the government has left me with no choice”.
Banners proclaiming “you tried to bury us but like seeds we have risen…” show that the country’s nursing fraternity is every bit as angry on the last day of their strike than they were when it began on Monday.
Purported government attempts to reach a settlement have failed, and the new dates for action are October 3, 4 and 5 – by coincidence two of the same days chosen by the nation’s judges for their strike (October 3 and 4).
As national press has been explaining, the nurses’ gripes centre on low pay, lack of inclusion in public sector workers’ 35-hour week, and institutional failure to ‘reward’ specialist nurses, many of whom have made enormous sacrifices to attain their specialities.
