London ∙ It is reported that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is preparing to use the state of emergency to break the Christmas strike in Britain. Sunak’s office has reportedly asked ministers to come up with more alternatives to thwart a concerted move by unions to stall Britain. Parliament passed a resolution to ensure services on strike days, including in important sectors such as railways. It will also include a package to replace the strikers with agency workers. This may lead to the situation where the chiefs are ready to permanently remove the strikers and replace them. The government has moved to confront the nursing, rail and postal unions with the anti-strike bill.
A confirmation from his office said the Prime Minister is studying various alternatives, though no final decision has been taken on the policies. 600 soldiers are being trained for immigration work and others amid threats of a strike by the PCS union. There are also reports that preparations are underway to use the army to drive ambulances and fire engines.
For the first time in Britain’s history, the union has clarified which sections will be included in the strike by nurses led by the Royal College of Nursing Union. It has been clarified that the strike will affect Accident and Emergency Departments and Cancer Services. Only chemotherapy, critical and intensive care and dialysis have been exempted from the strike.
The strike will be applicable in casualty department, cancer scan, maternity ward and operation theatre. Pat Cullen, general secretary of the nursing union, stated that the nursing staff did not want such drastic measures and the government chose to let the strike take place instead of negotiations.
Around 100,000 nurses across 45 NHS hospital trusts in Britain will go on strike on December 15 and 20. The Rishi Sunak government is trying to overcome this.