There are over 100,000 staff vacancies in the NHS – a vacancy rate of 7%. That is a root cause of why millions wait months for treatment and hours at A&E.
For years, the real-terms pay of NHS workers has been eroded, their conditions of work deteriorating in a health service deprived of funds and burdened by privatisation – allowing companies to profit from our poor health and forking out to pay PFI debts.
And yet the Labour government is overseeing an expansion of privatisation, and has made NHS workers a below-inflation pay offer.
Disgracefully, health secretary Wes Streeting has punished resident doctors, the NHS, and all of us patients, by snatching back his offer of limited extra doctors’ training places. Surely if the NHS needs more training places, it needs more training places!
The ‘crime’ he is punishing is resident doctors organised in the British Medical Association (BMA) being willing to demand a course is set towards their pay being restored, after it was cut by over 30% in real terms between 2008 and 2022. They are taking six days of strike action from 7 April.
Speaking on the first day of the strike, Streeting described resident doctors as the “winners” among public sector workers of the best pay offers. Despite the bile that will be poured on resident doctors by the Labour government and the capitalist media, it won’t be lost on other workers that the BMA’s preparedness to call action, and the determination of the resident doctors to strike (94% voted in favour), is why. And all public sector workers need a pay rise!
Other health unions have rejected the government’s pay offer too. Socialist Party members are fighting for the unions to organise action now.
Len Hockey, Unite branch secretary at Barts Health Trust, standing for election to the Unite Executive Council, said:
“Labour’s imposed 3.3% pay ‘deal’ will further anger overworked health workers. This amounts to a substantial real-terms pay cut.
“The response from all health unions must be immediate. That must mean coordinated sustained strike action.
“Local, regional and national rallies should be organised, with reps’ meetings in constituent unions called, and joint union meetings at all levels: in hospitals, districts and regions, and nationally.”
Adrian O’Malley, Yorkshire and Humberside, standing for re-election to Unison Health Service Group Executive, said (in a personal capacity):
“The NHS unions must lodge a national dispute immediately. We must prepare the ground for coordinated strike action.
“The continuation of the Tories’ austerity pay policy can be beaten by a united NHS workforce acting in solidarity together.”
The Socialist Party says
- Support NHS workers’ struggles for fully funded pay, jobs and training – make the super-rich pay
- Kick out the profiteers – end and reverse privatisation of our health service
- Unions must lead the fight against Labour austerity, fight for a new mass workers’ party
