LAST THURSDAY the government made a ‘final offer’ to the NHS consultants, a petty offer that they rejected out of hand. BMA Consultants Committee Chair Vishal Sharma told a packed meeting at the BMA headquarters ‘No more talks. We are united, stronger together. We cannot and will not back down.’
The packed audience of NHS strikers responded with a standing ovation. He had begun his speech at BMA house saying: ‘We are all under pressure. We want new consultants but we can’t recruit.
‘Overseas employers offer better pay and conditions. Unless things change, we risk consultants leaving in their droves. Strike action is a last resort. The government will not listen. For 15 years we’ve asked politely. For 15 years they will not listen. They are offering pay cut, after pay cut.
‘We’ve written to every secretary of state. They have refused to listen, refused to talk to us. Waiting lists have increased and there are less consultants.
‘No firm offer has been made. We are here because of the government and their action or rather their inaction. We make hundreds of decisions a day that impact on care.’
The consultants and all NHS workers are now standing fast and will not surrender to the Tories because if they do they will be handing over the NHS to the government to be smashed and broken up!
A speaker from the floor, retired consultant, Anna Athow, got a standing ovation when she addressed the audience and demanded that the TUC must call a general strike to save the NHS by bringing down the Tories and bringing in a workers government.
James Crane, consultant endocrynologist said: ‘There must be action over our pay which has declined by 35%, and in the face of another pay cut, in the form of a 6% offer by the Tories and the so-called independent review body the DDRB. We will not be giving up until we are guaranteed a reform of the DDRB and a road map to the restoration of fair pay.’
Sarah Nour, Anaesthetic Consultant, said: ‘I’m fed up of the government saying how much they value us while in practice treating us like dirt.’
Kevin O’Kane, a consultant in Acute Medicine, told News Line: ‘Prime Minister Sunak blamed the long waiting lists on the doctors’ strike. In fact it’s because of 14 years of underfunding and that’s down to the government. The number of consultants and scanners in this country is lower than in any other European country.’
Last Tuesday, July 18th, the TUC publicly vowed to fight the anti-strike bill that the government has brought in, ‘tooth and nail’, as the legislation passed its final parliamentary stage, and awaits the Royal Assent.
The TUC has said that the Conservatives were ‘taking a wrecking ball to the fundamental right to strike’.
The Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill will soon receive Royal Assent and make its way onto the statute book as the legislation has been passed by the House of Lords – after several previous defeats.
The Bill will mean that when workers lawfully vote to strike in health, education, fire, transport, border security and nuclear decommissioning, they could be forced to attend work – and sacked if they don’t comply.
The UK’s actions have already come under scrutiny from international organisations. The UN workers’ rights watchdog, the ILO, recently slapped down the UK government over its anti-union agenda and demanded it respect international law.
The Bill will give ministers the power to impose new minimum service levels through regulation, but ministers have given few details on how they intend minimum service levels to operate.
The government is rushing this latest legislation onto the statute book just days after a ‘humiliating defeat’ on its agency worker regulations – as the High Court deemed the regulations unlawful.
The ‘strike-breaking’ regulations were brought in last summer and allow agencies to supply employers with workers to fill in for those on strike.
TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak has said: ‘The Conservatives are threatening to take a wrecking ball to our fundamental right to strike. No one should be sacked for trying to win better pay and conditions at work – especially in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. But that is exactly what this draconian legislation will allow.
‘These new laws will give ministers the power to snatch away the right to strike from a massive 1 in 5 workers – that’s 5.5 million people.’ The TUC concluded: ‘Make no mistake. The TUC will fight this pernicious legislation tooth and nail – exploring all options including legal routes.’
However, standing by and watching is just what the TUC general council is doing. The TUC must be made to call a general strike NOW to bring down the Tories and bring in a Workers Government and Socialism! There is no other way!
The trade unions must make the TUC call a Special Congress at once to organise a general strike and a system change in the UK to get rid of capitalism an bring in socialism. There is not a moment to lose!
