UNITE launched a strike ballot of its 100,000 NHS members outside St Thomas’s Hospital, opposite Parliament, in central London yesterday morning.
Onay Kasab, Lead Officer for the NHS and Regional Organiser for Unite, took the microphone to say: ‘Vote YES in the Ballot, Vote for safe staffing and fair pay.
‘Our NHS is at crisis point and now is the time to save our NHS. The NHS must be saved, after years of policy cuts and privatisation. You can’t get recruitment without fair pay.’
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘Services are at breaking point while workers are struggling to make ends meet. The blame for this lies squarely with the government. That’s why Unite’s ad campaign is warning the PM that it’s his last chance to save the NHS.’
The Unite vote YES leaflet said: ‘NHS PAY STRIKE BALLOT. Our pay is falling. Our bills are rising. The Conservative government’s NHS pay award for 2022/23 is equivalent to just 4% for most NHS staff in England. With RPI at 12.6%, this is a massive pay cut. VOTE YES FOR STRIKE ACTION. VOTE YES FOR A SAFE NHS.’
Chris Lucas stopped to support the protest and said: ‘During the pandemic the Tory government showed where they really stood – lots of NHS money was siphoned off to private companies. The reason the NHS is going bust is they’re diverting the funding to the private sector.
‘I would support a general strike to get the Tories out and bring in socialism and a workers’ government.’
Nurse Mensah said: ‘I just think the NHS does not value its staff. They only think about money. 60-70% of the frontline staff who work by the bedside come from overseas – places like Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe, and the doctors. The people from Britain mostly sit in the offices.
‘Most of the frontline staff don’t have a cabinet for them to hang their clothes and put their bags in, even during the pandemic. The few wards with lockers are for the use of permanent staff. But for the agency, temps and bank workers there are no lockers.
‘We have to wear our uniforms on the bus and travel home with contaminated uniforms. In Germany and Austria this is not allowed. All have lockers. Laundry staff wash and iron the uniforms for you. It’s more hygienic. There are so many mental health patients in the hospital, needing one-to-one care.’
Anna Vila said: ‘I’m a senior staff nurse in Intensive Care here at St Thomas’ Hospital. I’m just coming off night shift, but I support the nurses’ decision to strike 100%. Patient safety is really at risk at the moment, such poor staffing levels lead to mistakes. We need to go on strike so the government has to know that enough is enough.’
Anna argued that the Royal College of Nursing strategy of preventing nurses whose Trusts did not meet the vote thresholds from striking, is a mistake and instead that the RCN should be calling on other unions and the TUC to strike with the nurses.
She said: ‘There is a big Facebook page which says, “The NHS says No”, and loads of nurses are writing in saying that their trust did not meet the threshold. For the strike not to happen for their hospital is really upsetting for them.
‘I think in fact 100% of nurses are fed up, burnt out, coming in everyday and not being able to do the job they want. By picking out each individual hospital, it weakens the strike. It’s not good enough. We need everyone out to win.’
Jerzy Olechnowicz, retired Unite member and Union Convenor at St Thomas’ Hospital said: ‘After 10-12 years of austerity the NHS is on its knees. We need to have good pay and conditions so staff stay in the Trust and we can recruit more staff. We need to show this government we will no longer be bullied and we will strike. Hospital workers need to strike alongside the other unions, like the RMT.’
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