A strike by hospital staff is set to go ahead next month after employers rejected the latest pay demand by unions.

The unions have set a deadline on Tuesday for managers to agree to a 10% pay rise across the board plus higher travel expenses and improvements to working conditions. But employers’ association NVZ has already said the package is unaffordable.

Staff at 50 hospitals have already made plans to stage a strike in mid-March, though an exact date is yet to be set, four trade unions said in a joint statement. The call for a strike does not affect teaching hospitals (UMCs), which fall under a different pay deal.

The hospitals which will strike are expected to operate a ‘Sunday rota’ so that emergency care will continue while scheduled operations are cancelled.

Talks between the two sides broke down at the end of January, when the employers’ association offered a 13% pay deal staggered over the next 18 months. Unions rejected it because staff would only receive 5% this year, less than the current rate of inflation.

FNV union official Elise Merlijn said: ‘I think it’s incredible that hospital workers are having to fight again for a decent collective agreement.’

Unions want to raise travel expenses for staff who drive to work from 8 cents per kilometre to 11 cents, and again to 14 cents next year. Other emergency workers such as police officers receive 19 cents, while the maximum tax deductible rate is 21 cents.

They are also asking for better conditions for doctors being trained as specialists to reduce their working hours and limit the risk of burn-out symptoms..

But Ad Melkert, chair of the NVZ, said the plan would cost €800 million and mean hospitals having to make cuts elsewhere.

‘We would have to reduce the number of staff places,’ he said. ‘That also means waiting lists would increase and it would take longer to catch up on delayed treatment.’