Pressure grows on unions to move to strike action as workers hit out at both Welsh Government and Westminster over pay deal. Rank and file worker groups want action to be coordinated with England.
Image: Naomi Gordon, of NHS Workers Say No at recent protest for a pay rise, by Mehek Seth
Nurses have reacted with fury to a 3% pay offer from Welsh Government and are moving towards strike action in response.
The grassroots group NHS Workers Say No Wales, which is made up of nurses & health workers from various NHS trade unions, are campaigning for strike ballots to be issued and calling for any action to be coordinated with England.
Meanwhile, some health unions have already said strikes are on the cards.
The GMB union said it was balloting with a clear recommendation to reject the offer and take industrial action.
Wales TUC general secretary Shavanah Taj said the offer “simply doesn’t recognise” the “dedication, commitment and contribution” of workers.
UNISON, the biggest union in the NHS, said that 3% was ‘not enough’ and that they are seeking a meeting with the Welsh health minister to secure a higher offer.
RCN Wales, meanwhile, said it was “bitterly disappointed” with the pay award and that it was effectively a pay cut given that inflation is expected to hit 3.7% this year.
The union has said it will consult its members on the next steps but wouldn’t rule out strike action.
But increasing numbers of nurses and health workers want faster action from unions, with many writing directly to demand that measures towards strike action are put in place immediately.
The news of the 3% pay offer came on Wednesday afternoon. It was initially announced by the Tories in Westminster for English health workers, but the Welsh Labour Government followed immediately after with an identical offer.
Rhian Bethell, a nurse from South Wales who caught Covid and became seriously ill at the start of the pandemic, said that fellow workers were furious.
“Yet again another kick in the teeth with the Labour Party following Westminster. Inflation is set to be 2.4% with some staff taking as little as 18p per hour extra.”
Unions in health had all demanded a significant pay rise to make up for the estimated 20% cut that NHS workers have taken in the past decade. Last year protests organised by rank amd file workers swept Britain demanding a 15% uplift, which some unions then took on board.
“We are angry, fed up and so exhausted and are now facing another wave,” said Rhian, who is in the coordinating group of NHS Workers Say No Wales.
“Highly skilled educated professionals are being worked to the bone for absolute pittance.”
She said there was a growing appetite for industrial action.
“I think the passion is rising and we are determined to pass a ballot, and encourage everyone to vote no when the unions ballot. “
“Unions need to become active, they need to be mobilising the rank and file members and get organise to reject the absolute ridiculous amount they’ve offered.”
The idea of industrial action has quickly risen up the political agenda, forcing Welsh Health Minister Eluned Morgan to address the question directly, saying she would be “very disappointed” if strikes took place.
“I think that now is not the right time for industrial action I’m afraid,” Morgan said
But the mood for strike action is hardening regardless, with one nurse telling BBC Wales on Thursday: “For the first time in my 36 years, I’ve had nurses talking about striking and saying things like when are we going to walk out, not if.”
In a Facebook group which is run by rank and file workers, there was large scale support expressed to reject the deal and move to an industrial action ballot.
Many are sharing details of how to get strikes off the ground and what unions and their members need to do.
Matthew Tovey is a nurse from South Wales who this week delivered a petition to Boris Johnson at 10 Downing St demanding a 15% pay rise. It has now been signed by over 800,000 people.
Along with other NHS workers, Matthew has been at the forefront of the campaign for a 15% pay rise with NHS Workers Say No.
“I’m not surprised by this paltry offer,” he said.
“NHS staff like myself are absolutely outraged and a 3% pay offer, its pathetic, pitiful and poor.”
He said the proposed deal was not a pay rise at all. “We have lost 20% of our wages since 2010. 3% will ultimately put patients at risk and impact on quality of care.”
Matthew added that experienced staff are leaving the profession due to a toxic combination of huge workloads and low pay, and that the only way to fix the situation was a proper pay rise that would retain and recruit workers.
“Staff burn out is already at a all time high,” he said, describing workers feeling “exhausted and demoralised.”
“We’re not greedy, it’s about patient safety. The NHS is central to society… without fair pay the whole NHS will suffer.”
Matthew said that if all Welsh Government and Westminster were prepared to offer was 3%, then workers and unions would have to get serious about strike action.
“I think it’s now time for unions to step up and put their money where their mouth is. We need to start strike ballots immediately. All unions should now be engaging with their members, mapping out the workplaces and preparing for industrial action.”
He added that strikes should be coordinated with England.
“So many times we’ve heard that Westminster aren’t releasing the purse stings for Wales. Sometimes Welsh Government pass the buck and hide behind Westminster.”
“However if we coordinate it will send a clear message to both governments that we’re all the same body of people, we all work under the NHS, we’re all cogs in the wheel and that we are joined in our efforts to win a restorative pay rise and we won’t stop until we get one.”
Scotland has already implemented a pay deal of 4%, still far below union demands.
Welsh Health Minister Elunud Morgan said Wales couldn’t match the 4%, because the government here was “restricted by the amount of funding that we get from the UK Conservative government”
But yesterday it was announced that the 3% in England will come from existing health budgets, meaning no new money and cuts elsewhere to fund it.
This would also mean that Wales would receive no additional funding through the Barnett formala for the 3% uplift, leaving open the potential for cuts elsewhere.
Despite the Tory government’s talk of ‘leveling up’ the reality is that austerity continues as they try to push the cost of the pandemic onto workers.
Instead of fighting this, however, Welsh Labour in power continue to administer cuts.
Whereas Mark Drakeford has been willing to confront the Tories over aspects of Covid strategy, he has been far less willing to do so over the amount of money that comes to Wales, leaving services and public sector workers drastically underfunded.
When it came to the NHS pay deal, Welsh Labour declined the opportunity to apply any pressure on the Tories for a bigger rise.
They could have argued for them to release additional money and raise the fact that the super rich and big business have had a decade of tax breaks, costing billions.
Instead they said nothing, and simply copied the Tory Health Secretary Sajid Javid, even repeating his justification that the rise was in ‘recognition’ of the hard work of NHS workers, something that further infuriated staff.
The situation has led to the farcical sight of Keir Starmer attacking the Tories over the 3% in England whilst his party in Wales implements the same deal.
Starmer’s credibility on the issue was already in tatters, as Labour had only demanded a 2.1% pay rise, less than the 3% workers are fuming about.
The embarrassing saga has left many Welsh NHS workers equally angry with Labour as they are the Tories.
“Boris Johnson and Mark Drakeford need to hang their heads in shame,” said nurse Rhian.
“There are more billionaires in the country than at the beginning of the pandemic, the richer get richer and we are barely scraping by.”
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