Anger against the Tories on the march in London in January (Picture: Guy Smallman)
Satisfaction with the NHS has plummeted to a record low of just 29 percent. People are facing long waits for care and feeling the effects of a lack of health workers and cuts.
The solution is not, as the Tories would like us to conclude, more privatisation. It is to fight for resources and retention of staff. The present pay battles are crucial to that struggle.
The results, from the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), show satisfaction with the NHS has collapsed from the record high 70 percent in 2010.
It’s easy to know why. The number of NHS vacancies has exploded from 76,000 two years ago to more than 133,000 full-time equivalent posts unfilled in England. And a growing number of patients—now nine million across Britain—are facing long waits for treatment.
None of this can be cured without better-paid workers at every level. That means a fight for at least £15 an hour in the outsourced sections, and a rejection of the present offer to directly-employed staff.
Junior doctors in England are showing the right way to confront the government by scheduling a four-day strike from 7am on Tuesday 11 April.
And on Wednesday junior doctors in Scotland began a strike ballot. Dr Chris Smith, chair of the BMA’s Scottish Junior Doctors Committee, said, “Today our ballot for junior doctor strikes opens.
“Over recent months we have tried, repeatedly, to encourage the Scottish government to engage with us in meaningful and formal negotiations over full pay restoration and they have repeatedly refused to commit to this.
It’s a first test for new Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf, and one he will fail unless he comes under pressure. The ballot closes on 5 May and will initially lead to a 72-hour strike if there is a vote for action.
And the Society of Radiographers’ UK council agreed unanimously this week to recommend members reject the offer for the NHS in England.
Unfortunately, the major players, the Unison union and the Royal College of Nursing are seeking to achieve acceptance of the deal. And they are setting up the question in a way that could scare workers into giving up the fight for pay.
Unison says, “Voting Yes means you want the offer to be implemented as soon as possible. Voting no means you do not want the offer to be implemented. Instead, you are willing to risk waiting to see what a Pay Review Body process—only covering 2023/24 pay —might deliver.
“And you understand that challenging this will require many more UNISON members to vote for and take more sustained industrial action.”
Martine, an NHS worker, wrote on Facebook, “I have Just received my vote link from Unison, basically telling me if I want money now, to vote yes. because if I don’t, there’s no guarantee how long it would take and whether there’d be a better offer as it would be decided by the pay review body. It’s a way to manipulate people!”
The RCN tells its members, “Ministers may decide to take this current offer off the table altogether or refuse to negotiate further” if workers reject the offer.
Workers should reject that blackmail, throw out the deal and fight for escalating strikes.
A staffing crisis in the NHS
Health workers set to strike across four Manchester hospitals
Bus workers rejected an offer and came back out
