UK NHS: Here are all the strike dates – just be well on those days
No social transformation is harmless, let’s talk about NHS strike dates in the UK.
The meeting with health secretary Steve Barclay at the beginning of this month broke down NHS strikes dates involved January 19th & 18th. The year just started, but so did unconformity, sadly, when it comes to deviations in the health system, not only health personnel get damaged. This matter concerns all of us.
Steve Barclay in charge of Health Secretary failed to avoid nurses’ walkouts, followed by auxiliary NHS staff and ambulance workers. Personnel has described union brand negotiations as “insults’ ‘since there hasn’t been a detailed discussion regarding a pay settlement. These situations need to stop, health personnel must be valued and well paid since most of their working days border on exploitation.
As it was expected, union leaders reacted negatively to the meeting. Yet, this kind of space somehow marks a breakthrough in relations since the government said it would not take the responsibility to talk about pay with unions. It’s evident that the NHS has several opportunity areas to work on, like all health systems, but what’s really going on? Why are the NHS personnel so angry and challenging rates?
The so-called “productivity”
In the words of Onay Kasab, who is Unite’s national leader,” the government only wanted to talk about productivity”. Yet, while there’s an ongoing demand for increasing productivity, which is demanding enough already, there hasn’t been a detailed discussion regarding pay settlements. For this reason, Kasab confirmed strikes by Unite ambulance workers would be happening last 23 January.
On the other hand, Mr. Kasab described this situation as absolutely “ludicrous” & “outrageous”. What angers personnel, is that the government only talked about demanding more NHS staff productivity in exchange for a pay rise. But is it possible to be more productive when staff is already working up to eighteen-hour shifts? “It’s an insult,” that’s what he said, and honestly, it is.
Director of employment relations and legal services at the RCN Joanne Galbraith-Marten, said: “There is no resolution to our dispute yet in sight.” And in the absence of solutions given in official meetings, other resources must be pulled out, which is why strikes & organized protests are so important. Galbraith Marten described that meeting as “bitterly disappointing”, but do they really work?
Strikes context
Since 2022 several trade unions have walked out in strikes and disputes regarding pay and working conditions. Several astrologers define 2023 as a year for healing, yet, it looks like it not only applies personally but to entire systems. If you find yourself angry & surprised after reading about the NHS situation, know that strike dates will keep popping and not only from this organism.
This situation has affected several social aspects, from situations like rail services and Royal Mail deliveries to NHS nurses, ambulance drivers, and also teachers. All we heard is that “the budget is already set’ for next year” but this intransigence is leaving numerous patients down. As we mentioned before, failures in public institutions are something all of us should be concerned about.
GMB union reported no cash offer has been made, nothing “concrete” has been offered about next financial year’s pay, and April is just around the corner. Sara Gorten, head of health at Unison described as an advance the fact that discussions in a “positive tone” have been procured with the health secretary. But there’s no real progress till we talk about tangible fair numbers for NHS personnel.
Bureaucratic chit-chat won’t pay people’s bills nor cover exploitation wears, which is why sometimes politics should be done from our bodies. Surely, the following strikes (which will hopefully be few), might fix this situation of doing social harm on so many levels.
