Nurses today began a rolling strike after their union leader was sacked for speaking to the media.
More than 150 staff, who care for 1,000 seriously-ill psychiatric patients, are on picket lines across Manchester and say they will not return to work until senior nurse Karen Reissmann is reinstated.
The strike follows the decision of Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust bosses to sack Ms Reissmann on Monday.
She worked in the city's health services for more than 20 years and was promoted to specialist practitioner, the most senior nursing post under management, on the same day she was suspended for bringing the trust's reputation into disrepute. The walkout by Unison staff follows 14 days of industrial action over the summer.
Ms Reissmann, who was at one of four picket lines outside trust sites across the city, said: "People feel angry they have to be taking this stand, they are angry they have been put in this position and they are angry I have been sacked for speaking out. But they are determined to do this, to ensure I am reinstated."
Ms Reissmann, from Hulme, is an outspoken critic of NHS cuts and privatisation of services.
