Sally Griffiths, NHS worker in Unison, personal capacity
A rebellion is growing from below in the NHS unions. The pay talks that halted the strike action in the NHS have produced an offer from the Tory government which not only is an insult to health workers, but is also a divisive one.
While workers recognise the bribe, a significant section really needs the money. The Tories know this. Just one example: trusts across the country are reintroducing car parking charges, which will have a real impact on household budgets.
With the exception of Unite, the leaders of the main NHS unions representing nurses, ambulance workers, and other staff on ‘Agenda for Change’ contracts, are recommending acceptance in a ballot that runs until 14 April.
But on the ground, health workers are angry, and many are campaigning to reject.
For a band 3 worker this offer is a rise to £24,336. An offer in line with inflation would be £26,461. The offer is for a non-consolidated lump sum for 2022-23 and a pitiful unfunded 5% for 2023-24. It’s a below-inflation offer for both years. This will do nothing to repair the savage cuts in pay that health workers have borne since 2008, nor will it improve the massive staff shortages in the service.
NHS workers are exhausted – we desperately need to get to safe staffing levels, not only to protect patients, but also for our own mental and physical health. There are 130,000 vacancies. There are seven million patients on the waiting lists. NHS health unions must demand a restorative pay rise to hope to meet this challenge.
The workers in our hospital are torn between refusing to be threatened and taking the much-needed cash. They are insulted by statements from union leaders like: “If you don’t take this then you may not get anything”. It’s not the first time the government said they wouldn’t negotiate – they said that in the autumn, but action forced them to the table. It can do that again!
Concerns
Members are concerned about the negative effect of a lump sum for Universal Credit claimants. They are angry about the rumours of a possible separate pay spine for nursing staff, and are clear that NHS workers need to fight together. Some are questioning the real aim of the Tories – that they are keeping pay low while they “privatise the shit out of our jobs”.
Members are either angry about that or confused at their union’s stance, following the campaign to get a ‘yes’ vote for industrial action in the last pay ballot. Members of various unions report that their branches are being pushed from the top to present an ‘accept’ position. They are asking for all the information to make their decision. There are reports of vague statements about “support for nursing staff” and “career development”, and promises to deal with the increasing violence and aggression in workplaces. One worker said in a WhatsApp group: “This must be a joke”.
The events are leading NHS staff to look closely at our terms and conditions, and older members say they feel that the ‘Agenda for Change’ reforms to pay in 2004 were always meant to keep wages down. Socialist Party members opposed the reforms at the time (see ‘Reject Agenda for Change’ at socialistparty.org.uk).
Workers also see the need for unity and don’t want to see different roles getting different pay spines in the future.
Keir Starmer’s Labour Party’s silence on our pay has been deafening. Workers are wondering, who is there to support us and fight for us?
It’s the grassroots of each health union that have pushed both their unions and the government on pay. It’s the grassroots who are now pushing their unions for transparency on the offer.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) are calling for an emergency general meeting. Other health unions’ conferences are coming up and emergency motions to discuss the pay offer are expected.
Health workers have seen the struggles of other workers and their strength and resilience. They have seen other workers fight for and get double-figure pay offers. Many health workers recognise that they deserve and should fight for significantly more, and want to be out on the picket lines alongside their junior doctor colleagues. Even hospital consultants could now be joining them on strike!
RCN leaders under pressure
Union leaders who want to draw a close to the dispute are clearly worried that it might be on a knife-edge. Outrageously, the leadership of the RCN – which was originally a non-strike organisation but, due to the mountain of pressure in the NHS, took strike action for the first time ever in England and Wales – is reported by the Guardian to have called in the police to investigate some of its own members!
Two members launched a petition calling for a vote of no confidence in the leadership, including chief executive Pat Cullen, which has now exceeded the 1,000 signatures necessary to trigger an extraordinary general meeting. The leadership claim some of the signatures are not valid. They have also deleted WhatsApp messages and Facebook posts of RCN members campaigning for a reject vote, saying they are intimidating.
Instead of calling the police on their members, union leaders should listen to them, and step up to lead the fight that is necessary. If they are not prepared to do so, they should step aside for those who are willing to lead!
