NHS workers vote to strike

Strike to save our NHS!

Strike to save our NHS!

An NHS mental health worker

Health workers in Unison have voted by 68% for full strike action over pay, with 88% in favour of action short of a strike. We are striking for our patients and their carers, as well as ourselves.

Nurses, occupational therapists and other health staff have had enough of this government’s brutal austerity agenda and we are sick of seeing our patients’ lives ruined by NHS cuts.

In mental health services it is well known that psychosis patients die, on average, 14-20 years earlier than the rest of the population. Poverty is at the root of this shocking statistic. There is no more money being invested, but lots of new demands are made on NHS staff who are already overworked.

We are sick of NHS managers telling us that ‘there is no money’ as our jobs being downbanded while their pay has gone up 8%! We are sick of being subjected to ‘service redesign’ which is a euphemism for more cuts, job losses and reduced services.

We are due to strike for four hours on 13 October – the day before local government and college workers strike.

But we want Unison and the other health unions to properly coordinate strike action with other disputes.

13 October should be just the opening NHS strike. Next time we should come out for a whole day at the same time as other public sector workers.