LEADING UNION FIGURE IN WALES TELLS WORKERS THEY MUST DEMAND SAFE CONDITIONS AND BE PREPARED NOT TO WORK IF BOSSES & GOVERNMENT DON’T LISTEN
IT COMES AFTER A WEEKEND WHERE A NURSE IN WALES DIED FROM CORONAVIRUS AND OUTRAGE GROWS AT TREATMENT OF FRONTLINE STAFF
By SC Cook
The leader of Wales TUC, Shavanah Taj, has told frontline workers that they must ‘demand PPE/Social Distancing’ and ‘have every right not to work’ if this is not provided.
The call came as the Wales TUC and British Medical Association (BMA) urged the Welsh Government “to be transparent with staff about supplies” of PPE.
In a public Facebook post on Sunday afternoon, pictured above, Shavanah Taj addressed workers directly, saying they should not be forced into jobs which are unsafe and no one should be made to ‘risk their lives’.
This is the post in full:
“Personal message to frontline NHS/Care & Key Workers. demand PPE/Social Distancing. If not provided and you feel unsafe you have every right not to work until appropriate adjustments are made, so as to allow you to work safely. If you are unsure it is always best to speak to your union first. No worker should risk their lives. We need you safe and well for your own families & loved ones. You must not be put at risk, as you serve and protect us.”
The comments raise the possibility of workers in frontline jobs walking off or taking unofficial strike action to demand safety at work. Unofficial or ‘wildcat’ strikes have become a feature of the current crisis, as workers’ are made to risk their lives, either because they are not provided with safety equipment or because they are being forced into unnecessary jobs. In Italy, mass strikes by factory workers forced the government to close all non essential industries.
Shortages of protective equipment and safe working has become a flashpoint in the Coronavirus pandemic in Wales and the UK. On Saturday, the trade union Unison – which represents thousands of health and social care workers – wrote an open letter to First Minister Mark Drakeford, saying they had been “inundated with very scared and anxious workers” who had still not received PPE. They said lack of proper equipment was ‘killing’ frontline workers.
The issue goes beyond health and social care however, with industries such as construction and some retailers refusing to shut down, leaving workers on site at risk of not being able to observe social distancing.
Over the weekend, voice.wales published an in-depth article featuring interviews with frontline NHS staff who blew the lid on how many are being left dangerously exposed to the virus. One senior Nurse from a Cardiff hospital said how staff had been told they didn’t need full PPE even though they were being asked to work in wards “full of 18 patients coughing and spluttering.”
On the day of publication, two of the health care workers featured in the article contacted voice.wales to say a colleague had tragically died after contracting Coronavirus and working around Covid positive patients. One worker described him as ‘a fantastic nurse’ and another said they had known him for 28 years. He was later named as Gareth Roberts.
In Wales, 1216 NHS workers have signed an open letter calling on the Welsh government to take immediate action to fix the situation. A crowd-funder has also been set up to provide necessary protective equipment where government has failed.
