Unite’s Health officer explains the need to strike

Up to 100,000 members of Unite working for the NHS, will be staging protests and industrial action on Thursday, 10 May over attacks to their pensions.

Unite NHS members including health visitors, pharmacists and paramedics now face, on average, an extra £30-a-month to pay for their pensions, against a background of soaring household bills.

Unite members will join other public sector unions on 10 May as part of the on-going campaign against government attacks on public sector pensions.

Unite national officer for health, Rachael Maskell, said: “The government is picking the pockets of health workers by an average of £30-a-month in order to pay for pension changes which will see people having to work longer to get less.

“This disgraceful attack comes against a backdrop of pay freezes and the threat of regional pay in the public sector”.

Unite’s health members voted by a margin of over 94 per cent to reject the pensions’ package.

From a Unite press release, 17.4.12