NHS physiotherapy staff in all Welsh Health Boards will strike on 7 February, the CSP has announced. This will be a national strike and the first time physiotherapy staff in Wales have walked out over pay.
The planned industrial action follows the CSP achieving mandates to strike across every health board in Wales, covering 1500 physiotherapy staff, through ballots held at the end of last year and this month.
The CSP participated in talks with the Welsh Government on 12 January along with eight other health unions.
However, although we welcome the opportunity for discussions on pay with the Government, at this stage there is not a clear offer to put to members. This means that strike action will not be suspended.
Adam Morgan, senior negotiating officer for the CSP in Wales, said:
Physiotherapy staff in Wales will now walk out on a national day of action on February 7, but we will of course continue to meet with the Welsh Government to try to resolve this dispute. We want to be able to come back with a fair and firm pay offer that we can put to our members.
‘Physiotherapists and support workers voted for strike action because the current pay award was not enough to help them through the cost of living crisis. It’s not a decision that any of our members in Wales take lightly but the current pay award does not go far enough to address the workforce crisis.
‘No one wants to strike but physiotherapy staff have been left with no choice. Patients are struggling to get the care they need because a decade of under-investment in the NHS has led to chronic workforce shortages. It’s vital that there is a decent pay offer, not only to retain current physio staff but to attract new people to the profession.’
The CSP has announced initial strike dates of 26 January and 9 February in England.
Members in Scotland voted to accept an improved offer at the end of 2022.
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