In Belfast People Before Profit visited the Belfast City Hospital and Royal Victoria Hospital as over 2000 workers in the National Health Service are out on a 24-hour strike across the five trusts in the region. Three unions are out in force GMB, NIPSA and Unison.
Numbers similar to Belfast were reported out in the Northern, Southern, South Eastern and Western areas in acute sites like hospitals and in community based facilities like day centres. The number of sites is in the hundreds according to Unison’s branch chair for the Royal, Conor McCarthy.
‘Getting people to vote for strike action wasn’t that difficult because everyone feels very passionately about pay, privatisation and outsourcing in our NHS. Today is not the end of something.’
Referring to the Tory Health Secretary’s position that there is no deviation from the official NHS pay award body that there ‘is no money’ to restore the safe staffing and fair pay to the healthcare workers based on the pay, McCarthy said ‘Nobody here believes the Pay Review Body. The Pay Review Body is on its way out. It’s dead. It’s not independent. If it was independent and it took all evidence, the pay award would be a lot higher. They aren’t independent. They are controlled by the government. And so far as we’re concerned there should be a full return to collective bargaining with the UK government.’
CARE WORKERS
At Belfast City Hospital, NIPSA official Catherine Arkinson said the main three issues were Pay, Safe Staffing and Mileage. Members’ concerns about mileage are especially important for health and care workers who visit homes and do domiciliary care. NIPSA’s membership covers nursing, porters, technicians, security but also domiciliary carers who often drive long miles to get to the people they work with.
‘This is especially important in the Northern and Southern Trusts. These people took care of people in their homes at the height of the Covid Crisis. They clapped for us. But now we have very burned-out staff. These staff are now faced with a fixed mileage rate (50p for the first 300 miles and a reduced rate after that) that does not account for the huge increases to the cost of living. The 1400 pound pay award doesn’t cover the difference. It ain’t enough to put food on the table.’
SOCIAL SERVICES
John Mullin was another NIPSA member who noted that the breakdown in service provision across the NHS. ‘There used to be ratios like 1:2 in fields where you had a high likelihood of burnout. In Australia, they give you one year off for every four years on. Here they just grind you down. And the ratios are now 1:8. People are left with little option but to leave.’
He was chatting with a woman named Sharon who worked in transfusions. ‘The variety of specialised work that gets done is incredibly broad. Yes, there are managers out but these are the people who, for instance, order the supplies of PPE and rubber gloves. We all depend on each other.’
Even today the care continued despite the strike. ‘No one will be in danger in terms of life or limb’ another striker said describing their contingency planning. Talk about the military being brought in was dismissed with a laugh. ‘Key services remain in place. The people out on these pickets are here because they are passionate about patient care.’
What should government do? ‘They should listen to their key workers’
THE DRIVERS
The union for drivers is the GMB. They were out in Whiteabbey, Royal, Knockbracken, and here in City. They transport elderly folks and people with disabilities to day centers and treatments. Members we talked to were from Crumlin, Glengormley, and across Belfast too. Many had worked in other professions previously and brought together a wide range of experience from the trade union movement.
They wanted to see stronger coordinated action and are looking forward to seeing Unite and RCN out with them in a coordinated action like NIPSA and Unison were doing today.
‘We want our kids to have the things we never had. Christmas time brings that home. The government has to do better.’
NURSES
Natalie is a young theatre practitioner who lives in the Falls Road area. How long has she been doing this? ‘10 years. I love it. I love my colleagues. But the cost of living, national insurance contributions and pensions payments are all rising. We’ve got nurses – my colleagues – going to food banks even while working a 50-hour week. Nobody should have to leave their workplace like we’ve done today so we can prove what we are worth. What we need is a pay rise to beat inflation. We’re traditionally the lowest paid. Lower than Wales Scotland or England. It’s not acceptable. We’re proud to be out here for each other.’
MEDICAL LABORATORY SCIENTISTS
Philip studied biomedical science in Coleraine and now works on the 11th floor of City’s landmark tower. He does tissue typing tests which make sure City’s reputation as the National leaders in transplants continues.
Why is he personally joining the pickets? ‘Pay is important. And fairness. We’ve been paid less than Wales Scotland and England. Look at nurses’ pay…’ He notes the RCN union for nurses will be out on the same day as the Royal Mail Thursday the 15th of this week. ‘It’s the best indicator. But also, I see sections of the media and all of the government trying to kind of demonise unions. The government has said they don’t want to privatise the NHS but that’s exactly what they seem to be doing. And US health corporations are ready to buy off our NHS section by section.’
‘I think we deserve a pay rise.’ He continued, ‘The last time we were striking (2019) we were supposed to get pay parity with the rest of the UK. That didn’t happen!’
He drew the picture: 3 children, Christmas, Cost of Living crisis, record-breaking corporate profits, Covid billionaires, the Tory PPE supply scandal…
Doing nothing was impossible.
SAVING LIVES
Agnes is proud of her hospital, her colleagues, and her NHS. She’s especially proud of the Covid record for transplants which she organises.
‘101 transplants in 101 days,’ a record across the NHS during Covid. ‘And since then we’ve lost so many of our valued staff because we are being short staffed. We are trying to salvage the NHS here. We are trying to save our NHS. And right now it’s falling apart.’
‘It’s all to do with government or a lack of it here. We actually need to develop the NHS. We need to invest in it in hospitals and the people’
The unions continue their strike for 24 hours. The RCN Nurses will be picketing on th 15th of December.
