The 1982 NHS Strike

There was a long series of strikes by NHS workers in 1982 involving members of all UNISON’s partner unions, NUPE, Nalgo and COHSE.

Having had their links to Civil Service Pay and Conditions taken away by the government in 1980 by 1982 there was a great deal of disaffection around pay issues – eventually after 9 long months of strike action, increased offers were forthcoming…

The rules about how strikes began and the types of picketing which took place were very different to those of today – never the less emergency cover for all 24 hour services was agreed before strike action began. Many Trade Unions from outside the NHS gave great support to the action and some of the pictures and stories in this section will give you a flavour of the times …

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Click Play above to hear Stephen Booth an Area Organiser from UNISON's NW Region talk about how the NHS 1982 strike influenced him to become a steward.

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