THE Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in Scotland has voted overwhelmingly to reject the final pay offer from the nationalist SNP government, meaning Scottish nurses will be joining RCN strikes across the UK in January.
RCN Scotland had postponed earlier strike action in December to consult members on the widely touted ‘improved’ pay offer from the SNP of 7.5%, meaning they did not join the strike action by nurses in the rest of the UK on 15 and 20 December.
In fact, the 7.5% varied greatly according to the grade of nurses with some being eligible for as little as 5% – in any event this offer was far below the demand by NHS workers for an increase of inflation (currently around 11%) plus 5%.
The RCN put this offer to its members with no recommendation, instead telling them: ‘It’s up to you to decide’. By a massive 82%, nurses in Scotland replied with a resounding vote to reject this offer despite the complete absence of leadership from their union leaders.
Similarly the GMB union, which represents ambulance staff, nurses, porters and radiographers, suspended their planned strike in November to put this SNP offer to a vote – with the result that over two thirds voted to reject it.
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) also rejected the deal with 65% voting against.
Meanwhile, the other two main health unions, Unite and Unison, balloted their members on the same ‘best and final offer’ with recommendations for acceptance.
Workers represented by Unite voted to accept by 64% and Unison members by 57%.
SNP health minister Humza Yousaf said: ‘I am delighted that Unite and Unison members have agreed to accept our record pay offer’ at the same time expressing his gratitude ‘for the positive engagement that has taken place with our trade union colleagues’.
Encouraged by this split, Hamza announced last week that because unions representing most of the non-medical workers had accepted the deal, he would impose it on all NHS workers regardless of overwhelming rejection by nurses, midwives and ambulance workers.
Colin Poolman, RCN Scotland director, said: ‘Our members will be furious that for the second year in a row the Scottish government has chosen to ignore their voice’ by imposing a real-terms pay cut, while the GMB said: ‘Our members will consider their next steps, but the Scottish government is forcing NHS and SAS (Scottish Ambulance Service) staff onto the picket lines.’
Workers will also be furious that, for all their talk about ‘co-ordinated’ action, the trade union bureaucracy has worked overtime to split health workers and opened the door to the SNP government imposing a pay deal that will leave NHS workers impoverished in the face of rocketing inflation, thus forcing thousands more to leave the service.
Postponing strikes, recommending pay cutting offers and refusing to provide any real leadership is nothing more than propping up not just the SNP but the Tory government.
The SNP has joined the Tories in declaring war on health workers, and indeed on the very existence of the NHS.
The SNP and the Tories have refused any negotiations over pay and have thrown down the gauntlet to the trade unions as they prepare to attempt to drive the working class into destitution in order to inflict the recessionary crisis of British capitalism on the backs of workers and their families.
The RCN in England have called for two days of strikes on 18th and 19th of January while the RCN Scotland will be announcing strike days early in January. Now is the time for the working class to demand a united class action, a general strike, to bring down the Tories.
Those trade union leaders who are deliberately avoiding this fight to the finish with the Tories and SNP must be removed and replaced by a leadership that is prepared to do what is necessary to resolve this crisis by organising an indefinite general strike to kick out the Tories and bring in a workers’ government and socialism.
There is no other way forward.
