picket line Archives - The Stray Ferret

Picket line in Harrogate as trains and hospital hit by strikes

A picket line was in operation outside Harrogate railway station today as the district was hit by another day of strikes to key services.

Members of train drivers’ union Aslef picketed on Station Parade from 8am to noon in what was their 14th wave of industrial action since June last year.

No trains operated on the Harrogate and Knaresborough line and rail operator Northern has warned of further disruption tomorrow and Friday. Passengers are advised to check before they travel as there may be some short notice cancellations.

Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said there had been no further talks with the government or rail firms since the union rejected a “risible” pay offer in April.

Tricia Williams, chief operating officer at Northern, said:

“We hope to see a resolution to this issue in the near future and an end to the disruption these strikes cause.”

A three-day strike by junior doctors and consultants at Harrogate District Hospital is due to end at 7am tomorrow.

The British Medical Association said the strike over pay had resulted in ‘Christmas Day’ cover, meaning emergency care had been staffed but only minimal cover had been provided elsewhere.

Harrogate junior doctors: ‘We are prepared to continue to strike’

Junior doctors on strike in Harrogate have pledged to continue to stage walk outs until the government comes to the negotiating table.

Members of the British Medical Association are striking for 72 hours as of today after negotiations with ministers over a pay increase broke down.

Doctors based at Harrogate District Hospital set up a picket line on Wetherby Road this morning.

The move comes as the BMA described the latest government pay offer of a 5% increase for junior doctors as “in no way credible”.

It has called for a 35% pay hike in order to meet successive years of below inflation rises.

Junior doctors from the British Medical Association on strike in Harrogate.

Antony Antypas, one of the junior doctors on strike in Harrogate this morning, said some of his colleagues were considering leaving the profession due to pay.

He said:

“We have got to a position where we have lost a lot of our pay.

“There are staff that want to leave their job and go somewhere else. But we do not want to get to that point.”

He added that staff were “constantly fire fighting” against operation waiting lists and emergency department waiting times. He called for a better offer for junior doctors in order to “retain staff”.

Mr Antypas, who studied at University of Nottingham and is a second year foundation doctor at Harrogate hospital, added that junior doctors would be “prepared to continue to strike” until their demands are met.

The move comes as officials at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust has urged patients to attend appointments as normal unless contacted to reschedule.

However, the trust warned that some outpatient appointments may be cancelled at short notice during the three-day strike.

A spokesperson said:

“We understand this may cause our patients and their families to worry about how services will be delivered during this period. The safety of our patients is our primary concern and we have developed plans for the proposed action and its impact on our services, patients and staff. We are working hard to prioritise resources to protect emergency treatment, critical care, neonatal care, maternity, and trauma, and ensure we prioritise patients who have waited the longest for elective care and cancer surgery.

“To prioritise emergency care and to keep all patients safe, we are having to make changes to some of our outpatient and theatre services on the days of industrial action. We are aiming to keep as many outpatient appointments and elective activity across the three days of strike action, but there is a risk that these may be cancelled at short notice.

“Patients should continue to attend appointments as planned unless contacted to reschedule.”

Junior doctors begin strike at Harrogate District Hospital

Junior doctors formed a large picket line on Wetherby Road in Harrogate this morning as a 72-hour strike got underway.

Up to 61,000 junior or trainee doctors began a walkout at 7am today in a dispute over pay.

Many cars sounded their horns in support of those taking part in today’s action on Wetherby Road, close to Harrogate District Hospital.

The British Medical Association and Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association have defied calls from Health Secretary Steve Barclay to call off the strike.

They are calling for a 26% pay increase to “reverse the steep decline in pay faced by junior doctors since 2008/9”, according to the BMA.

A statement on Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust‘s website says the strike will impact services to patients. It says:

“Outpatients appointments and planned activity may be affected.

“Patients should continue to attend appointments as planned unless contacted to reschedule. We will be re-arranging any postponed appointments as a priority.

“We appreciate this situation is frustrating for patients affected and apologise for any inconvenience caused.

“Nobody should put off seeking urgent or emergency care during the strikes, and key services will continue to operate.”

The full statement is here.

Ambulance workers in Harrogate district on strike again today

Ambulance workers in the Harrogate district are staging another one-day strike today.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service staff who are members of the GMB union have set-up another picket line outside the ambulance station on Lancaster Park Road in Harrogate, close to the hospital.

Paramedics, emergency care assistants, call handlers and other staff are among those taking part in the industrial action, although ambulance workers will continue to respond to the most serious incidents.

Further ambulance strikes are planned on March 6 and 20 and Harrogate District Hospital will be hit by a two-day nurses’ strike beginning on March 1.

GMB national secretary Rachel Harrison urged the government to “talk pay now” and claimed ministers were unwilling to solve the dispute.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the strikes “only cause further disruption for patients” and he remained “keen to keep talking to unions about what is fair and affordable”.

First ever nurses’ strike begins at Harrogate hospital

Nurses at Harrogate District Hospital have gone on strike today for the first time ever.

A picket line is in place outside the hospital on Lancaster Park Road for the first of two 12-hour strikes called by the Royal College of Nursing.

Surgical nurses, paediatric nurses and accident and emergency nurses were among those taking part in this morning’s industrial action. Some passing vehicles sounded their horns in support of the strikers.

Amanda Brown and Andy Law, RCN officers from Leeds who joined Harrogate nurses on the picket line this morning, told the Stray Ferret the action was necessary because the NHS is “broken”.

Mr Law added the NHS was short of 47,000 nurses — up by 7,000 on a year ago.

Although the strike will disrupt some services for patients, Ms Brown said people requiring urgent care would not be affected:

“We’ve ensured staffing levels are safe.”

Today’s action is the latest wave of industrial action in the Harrogate district. Ambulance workers, rail workers and postal workers have all been on strike this winter.

Pat Cullen, the RCN’s general secretary and chief executive, has warned the strikes could escalate in the weeks ahead if a settlement isn’t reached.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay has said “unaffordable” pay rises for nurses would prevent investment in the NHS.

Ambulance workers form picket line in Harrogate today

Striking ambulance workers are operating a picket line in Harrogate today.

Members of the GMB union began their 24-hour action at Harrogate Ambulance Station, which is on Lancaster Park Road close to the hospital, at midnight.

They were joined by members of Unison at noon.

It is the second time staff at Yorkshire Ambulance Service have gone on strike in the last month, although they continue to respond to the most serious category one calls.

GMB rep and paramedic Neil Summers told the Stray Ferret the state of the NHS was the main reason for the industrial action. He said:

“We are literally sitting outside hospitals with patients in our ambulances for hours and hours because they have nowhere to go.

“The hospitals are full and it means we are not able to do our jobs. We hear calls for cardiac arrests and can’t do anything.”

Todays picket line

Mr Summers said York Hospital was particularly bad but paramedics could still be waiting at Harrogate District Hospital for “up to three or four hours”.

He said there needed to be greater investment in the NHS as well as social care to ease problems caused by bed-blocking.

He said pay was also a concern, as many staff had not had an increase in wages for years.

“My pay isn’t terrible but some people’s is appalling.”

Picket line Jan 2023

The pickets have been joined today by local campaigner Lindis Percy, a former nurse, midwife and health visitor. She said:

“What’s going on in the the health service is shocking and this government has caused it.”

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said this morning the NHS is under “very severe pressure”.

He added the government has announced further investment for emergency departments, as well as looking into ways of targeting how to get patients who are fit to leave into social care.

Picket line at Harrogate station as latest RMT strikes near end

A picket line operated at Harrogate Rail Station this morning as the latest wave of strikes by the RMT union draws to a close.

Union members are expected to picket the station again tomorrow before trains begin to run a limited service on Sunday.

No further strikes are currently planned and normal service is due to resume on the Harrogate and Knaresborough line on Monday for the first time in more than three weeks due to strikes, an overtime ban and bank holidays.

Pickets told the Stray Ferret the main reasons they were striking were concerns over passenger safety and working conditions, rather than pay.

An RMT member at Harrogate station today.

They said ticket offices faced closure and safety would be compromised by cuts to staff unless they took action.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper has said “it’s time for the unions to get off the picket line and back round the table” and claimed he has “delivered new, improved pay and reform offers”.

Ambulance workers in Harrogate district begin strike

A picket line is in place outside Harrogate Ambulance Station today in the latest round of strikes.

Staff at Yorkshire Ambulance Service have walked out as part of a national dispute over pay and conditions. A second day of strikes is due to take place on December 28.

Vehicles tooted their horns in support of members of the GMB union picketing on Lancaster Park Road, which is on the same street at Harrogate Disrict Hospital.

Nurses and firefighters have also showed their support and a local cafe dropped off hot chocolate to strikers shivering besides a fire.

Union organiser Katherine Mitchell told the Stray Ferret GMB staff were striking today from one minute past midnight until 10pm. Ms Mitchell said members of Unison were due to join the action at noon today.

She said about 60 staff were employed at Harrogate Ambulance Station and they would continue to respond to the most serious category one incidents during the strike. Some strikers had already been called in to deal with such incidents, she added.

Several staff said the dispute was not only about pay but also about conditions and the state of the NHS. One person said they had waited four hours outside Harrogate District Hospital recently with a patient because the hospital did not have enough staff to escort the person away.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay said this morning NHS contingency plans would not cover all 999 calls and that “ambulance unions have taken a conscious choice to inflict harm on patients” — which drew an angry response from union leaders.

Rail and postal workers in the Harrogate district have been on strike this winter, but Harrogate District Hospital was not included in the first two days of nurses strikes. Firefighters are expected to be balloted in the new year over strike action.

Picket line at Harrogate station today as rail strikes resume

A picket line is operating outside Harrogate train station this morning as rail strikes resume.

The RMT union and Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (Aslef) are striking today, Wednesday and next Saturday over pay and conditions.

Previous industrial action was cancelled because it coincided with the Queen’s mourning period.

The strikes have affected some people travelling to Harrogate for the three-day Green Party autumn conference, which started yesterday, as well as football fans that planned to catch the train for today’s Harrogate Town vs Bradford City derby at 1pm.

About 15 picketers turned up to support the action today.

Rail passengers have also been warned to expect disruption on Harrogate’s LNER services from today until October 9.

Major engineering works in the Newcastle area by Network Rail will affect many services on the LNER route during this period.

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