Cases of ballot fever spreads through NHS

At a protest of NHS midwives last year (Picture: Guy Smallman)

More health unions last week announced they would ballot their members for strikes over NHS pay in England and Wales. Two thirds of midwives and maternity support workers in the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) in England voted in the union’s consultation. 

The turnout was even higher in Wales at over 80 percent. And, 75 percent said they wanted to be balloted on industrial action. The RCM will be announcing the dates of the ballots in each country in the coming weeks.

Members of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy have also said they want action after a consultative ballot. Over 50 percent of its members voted, with nearly 80 percent saying they were prepared to take industrial action. The nurses’ RCN union suspended its strike ballot after the queen’s death. But it last week announced new dates for its ballot—from Thursday next week until 2 November.

The giant Unison union will be balloting its NHS members for a month from 27 October. The key task facing activists in all health unions is ensuring a huge turnout in the ballots—and a massive yes vote for strikes.

That means organising ward walkarounds, workplace meetings, lunchtime stalls, postering and imaginative social media. Unison’s “pledge to vote” campaign is a good initiative that can help facilitate this.

• Some 50 low-paid health workers in Lancashire were set to start 12 days of strikes as Socialist Worker went to press on Tuesday.

The porters, cleaners and caterers, who are members of the Unison union, work for contractor OCS at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Trust. They are demanding proper sick pay and extra money for working unsocial hours.

They have been striking on and off since June.

The giant OCS outsourcing firm is owned by an aggressive US hedge fund that also owns Morrisons supermarkets.

Security guards employed by the firm at New Covent Garden Market in south London began strikes over pay last week.

The workers are demanding pay equal to the London Living wage of £11.05 an hour. They currently get just £9.69.

Again, OCS has refused to negotiate with the workers’ Unite union.

Tweet messages of support to OCS workers in the NHS @NorthWestUNISON and @OCSDispute and send donations to Unison North West. Tweet messages of support to OCS workers at New Covent Garden @UniteLondonEast