Unison union mental health workers on strike in Manchester
Some 40 health workers in Manchester are preparing to return to picket lines next week in a vital strike for better mental health services. And they plan to escalate their action to a three-day strike, starting on Tuesday next week.
The Unison and Unite union members are nurses, psychologists, social workers, support workers, welfare rights workers, CBT therapists and employment specialists. They work for Manchester Early Intervention in Psychosis teams.
Unison assistant branch secretary and striking social worker Claire told Socialist Worker that the mood among her colleagues was “solidly behind the action”. But she said that so far neither management, nor the health bosses above them, have budged on the main question. That’s the lack of resources and appropriately skilled staff.
She described early intervention mental health services in Manchester as “totally overwhelmed” and said that underfunding of those teams was a “false economy”. “An increase of just one additional person to the caseload of an already overworked care coordinator can lead to hospital admissions going up,” she said.
“Too big a caseload causes an increased reliance on anti-psychotic medication. It carries the risk of rapid weight gain—up to 3.7 stone per year—which in turn increases the risk of cardiovascular problems and diabetes.
“The NHS services that then have to pick up the pieces are themselves under resourced but still have to deal with the consequences.”
Claire pointed out that her service has only two physical health workers to look after the interests of more than a thousand service users. This can have devastating consequences.
“Life expectancy for someone with severe mental health problems is up to 20 years lower than for people without,” she says. Union members have for several years fought for a better service, and the current dispute has been four years in the making.
Now a management proposed reorganisation of the Community Mental Health teams threatens to make an already bad situation worse. Waiting lists for those teams are extensive.
And, because of service pressures, there is a push to discharge people despite them having been assessed as having a severe and enduring mental health condition. This is thought to have been the case for hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals over the last few years.
Claire says many workers found the decision to strike difficult. But, she says, everyone, including service users, understands that things “cannot go on like this”. This strike is a vital part of the fight for better mental health services across Greater Manchester. The region has some of the highest mental health needs in Britain, but some of the lowest spending per head of population.
“This dispute has national implications because we are fighting the government for more resources,” said Claire. “When it comes to wars, the government seems to have endless resources. But what about heath? We are hoping that everyone will get behind our fight.
“We would love to see other mental health workers, service users and their friends and families on our picket lines.
Hundreds of healthcare assistants (HCAs) in Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot are set to walk out next week as part of a rash of disputes over pay banding.
The Unison union members are planning a two-day strike beginning next Tuesday. The move follows that in dozens of other trusts in England where workers were described as “non-clinical”. For years they were placed in the NHS’s bottom pay bracket—band 2.
Bosses in the Swansea Bay area insist the HCAs only perform patient personal care tasks. But workers know that’s not true. HCAs regularly take blood, do ECG tests and perform clinical monitoring.
No wonder they voted by 99 percent to strike in a recent ballot and are confident of success. Neath Port Talbot Hospital healthcare support worker Hollie said, “The strikes will show that healthcare support workers are serious about getting fair pay for the work they do. We love our jobs, but we want to be paid properly.”
Similar disputes across England have won—and generated back pay settlements that sometimes run to five years. That means some workers can expect a payout worth thousands of pounds, in addition to a salary increase of around £2,000 a year.
Striking NHS cleaners, porters and housekeepers in Essex and Suffolk have a big week ahead of them. The 350 Unison union members are on strike until Friday 13 December, or until the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS trust abandons plans to outsource their jobs.
The trust board is set to meet this Thursday but according to the union, it won’t announce its decision until the following Monday at the earliest. Rep Matt Prior says the union will carry on the fight if the trust board votes the wrong way.
“We’ve still got hundreds of us out on strike every day and we’ve got good numbers on the picket lines,” he told Socialist Worker.
Hundreds of NHS domestics, porters and cleaners working for hospitals in south London completed a four-day strike over management bullying and pay on Monday of this week.
The GMB union members are contracted out to hated outsourcer ISS, and work at the Croydon Mayday, Maudsley, Bethlem, Lambeth and Lewisham hospitals.
“Our members have had enough of being bullied, harassed and taken for granted,” said union official Helen O’Connor. “They work hard ensuring hospitals are safe, clean and that patients are well fed and get to appointments on time.
“We are calling on Croydon NHS and South London and Maudsley NHS to get involved in resolving this dispute as they have ultimate responsibility over these contractors.” Workers are right to fight to be valued and respected.
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