remember, there are strikes going on across wales and northern ireland as well. in northern ireland, it s the second time in three years that we re seeing nursing staff go on strike. but the situation there is even more complicated due to the lack of a functioning government as our correspondent chris page explains from belfast. is the third health service strike in northern ireland injust over a week. eight days ago, members of three other union staged a 2k hour walk out, including some nurses, and today, we have the second 12 hours straight by members of the royal college of nursing, although this is part of the first ever uk wide strike action by the rcn members of the union and as part of the uk have been on strike before. they did so three years ago for similar reasons as the strike today. now, northern ireland currently has the longest hospital waiting times in the uk by far, and the staffing shortages that the unions are talking about particularly acute here.
and chatting to keep them. in the run-up to this day and chatting to your keep them. in the run-up to this day and chatting to your colleagues - keep them. in the run-up to this day and chatting to your colleagues here| and chatting to your colleagues here on the picket line, what have people been saying? what is the mood been like? ., ., ., , been saying? what is the mood been like? .,, , ., like? the mood has been good, not ust the like? the mood has been good, not just the picket like? the mood has been good, not just the picket line, like? the mood has been good, not just the picket line, but like? the mood has been good, not just the picket line, but the - like? the mood has been good, not just the picket line, but the public. just the picket line, but the public as well, just the picket line, but the public as well, they are really showing their as well, they are really showing their support. at the end of the day their support. at the end of the day the nhs their
line, but the public as well, they are really showing their support. at the end of the day the nhs is our national treasure, the public support it, the people that work in it love it, it isjust that it is chronically understaffed, the staff are burned out, underpaid, so i don t think anyone would be against this. they know we are doing this because we have a real passion for the jobs we do and we want to provide good, safe care. una, thank you for taking some time to talk to us on bbc news. una was talking about staff shortages, and that problem is particularly big in northern ireland. northern ireland has the longest hospital waiting times by far of any part of the uk, and certainly workforce shortages have been a major factor in that. the department of health currently run by civil servants, as i said earlier, not by ministers, they have said, for their part, that this strike will be having an impact on an already fragile service. and while it is worth remembering that while some pla
to devolution on the horizon anytime yet, so although the pay negotiations are being carried out on national level, a uk wide level, the pay. the wages are actually handed out if you like by the devolved government, so the fact there is not a devolved government at the moment means that if you speak to people on the picket line, as i have the beam today, there is an added dimensional frustration and for the moment because there are no local ministers to send their message to, the message is focused on the westminster government. the local department of health, which is being run by civil servants at the moment, for its part, has put out a statement saying this industrial action will have an impact on an already fragile service, northern ireland has the longest hospital waiting times in the uk by far, but the department says it is doing everything it can to try to address theissues everything it can to try to address the issues being raised by nurses
particularly enthusiastic supporters passing there, the question about the strikers are asking is who is their message was directed at they are certainly sending that message to the politicians who they hope will be back in power at stormont sooner rather than later. but they are also directing a message at the government in westminster, who recently stepped in to set a budget for northern ireland, because there were no local ministers in power to do so. so they say they want a fair pay rise in line with inflation, they want better conditions, and these workers say that they are striking to protect the health service, because they say one of the major problems is the staffing shortages, that is leading to northern ireland having the longest hospital waiting times in the uk and the argument of people here on the picket line is that if you don t pay workers well enough, friendly people don t choose to work in health service, they go on to choose to work elsewhere. service, they go on to