STAFF at the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) say they are prepared to take industrial action over the government’s one per cent pay offer. 

In a joint statement, the North’s health unions have expressed “dismay and anger” over the British Government’s announcement. 

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is calling for a 12.5 per cent pay rise for nurses, and has set up a £35 million fund for possible strike action.  

The largest of the health unions, Unison, is calling for an immediate £2,000 pay rise for all members of staff. 

UNISON’s RVH and Muckamore Branch has signalled its intent on taking strike action, and has called on members to get “ballot ready”.

Sharon Hughes, a Domestic at the RVH, described the government’s pay offer as “a kick in the teeth”.

“People have been working over and above their hours to pull together to help fight this and this is the way the government is repaying us – it’s an absolute disgrace,” she said.

“All throughout our whole building all I can hear is people saying, ‘strike and see how they like it’.

“It’s alright for them (the government) to sit in their offices but they’re not here working, so they don’t see what we do.

“The only time they sit up and listen is when you call a strike.”

She added: “Nobody wants to do this because at the end of the day we’re here to serve patients, but I think enough is enough. 

“The pay offer has just taken everything away from what we’ve done – as if we don’t count. A one per cent pay rise is a joke.”

Joe Leathem, a Clerical Officer at the RVH Medical Records department said health workers felt a “a total sense of devastation and abandonment” following the one per cent offer.

“It seems like everything we did in the past year was totally disregarded,” he said.

“They’re saying that there’s not enough money to fund the pay rise that we need, but they’re continuing to fund nuclear weapons and things like Trident. 

“We really feel undervalued at the moment – it’s a real slap in the face.”

The controversy over the government’s pay offer comes just over a year after health workers in the North had to take strike action to achieve equal pay with their colleagues in England, Scotland and Wales. 

“We had to take industrial action to achieve pay parity with our colleagues in England, and the feeling again amongst staff is that we’ll have to go through all that again,” Mr Leathem said.

“The Tories have just slapped us in the face, so people are prepared to take industrial action again. 

“The ball is in their court, because I believe they understand the feelings of the health workers and the public as well because I believe the public would like us to get a pay rise with everything that has happened over the past year.”

The British government said one per cent offer is what is “affordable” at a difficult time for public finances.

Stormont's Department of Health said a decision on a pay award for the North’s health workers would be “taken after the pay review bodies make their recommendations”.

“We do not intend to pre-empt those recommendations,” a spokesperson added.

“Our pay award decisions can also only be taken in the context of a wider public sector pay policy set by the Department of Finance.”