NURSES at Lewisham hospital spoke up in favour of going on strike, on the day the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) strongly called for ‘nurses to make history’ and return a ‘Yes’ vote for strike action, the first of its kind in 106 years.
Shirley Ali, theatre nurse and RCN Rep at Lewisham Hospital spoke to News Line on the day of the RCN ballot.
She said: ‘We should go out on strike, definitely.
‘In previous years we took an indicative ballot, but this year nurses are so angry we have gone straight for the strike vote.
‘A nurses strike is long overdue, because management and the press, play on our human emotions, saying patients will suffer.
‘Many nurses are women and single parents and they try to intimidate us and make us fear for our futures’.
‘We should be asking the TUC and other unions to strike with us, because if we don’t ask they won’t be able to act. We are hoping that other unions will come out with us, because there is strength in numbers.
‘I have been working as an NHS nurse for many many years. The NHS trained me and I want to give back.’
Nurse Deborah Griffiths said: ‘I can’t wait for my strike ballot. We should have done this long ago.’
Nurse Katume said: ‘There are a lot of things we are going through as nurses when we come to work.
‘We come to work wholeheartedly, and yes we know we are underpaid. People don’t know how much nurses do for patients. Nursing is a vocation and a calling and we sacrifice for the patients.
‘But when we come to work, we are not praised. Sometimes patient’s families jump on us, like me one time I was put into “hot water” and nobody stood up for me in this trust.
‘So I believe all of us need to strike.’
- UCU members on the picket line at Lewisham College yesterday, attracted loud support from commuters, the public and students as they chanted slogans and danced on the picket line to win a 10% pay increase.
Nina Mirzahei, UCU leader and teacher said: ‘We have come out on strike again today because all of us are really suffering.
‘The cost of living is soaring and we have a government that just doesn’t think about us ordinary people. We teach in the colleges because we care about our students, but the way that things are going, we are struggling.
‘It is affecting us not just financially, but our mental health and our well-being.
‘We want our 10%, but that is not even a reasonable pay rise for what we need to manage our lives. But that is the minimum that management should give us. ‘The Trade Union Congress should be calling a general strike because there is power in numbers, and the more people the better’.
