If you were out and about today, you probably came across a few picket lines of striking health workers. Members from Unison, Nipsa and GMB are involved in the action.
It seems practically every occupation in the UK is planning a strike. Nurses, Royal Mail staff, rail workers, civil servants, border control etc. The Bel Tel has an exhaustive list here…
The demands are pretty modest generally; when you factor in inflation, they will be basically on the same income in real terms.
It is fascinating how soon NHS staff went from ‘heroes’ to ‘zeroes’ to the Conservative Government and the Right Wing Press. As one striking worker told the BBC, “Claps don’t fill your oil tank, don’t pay your electricity bill”.
The Conservative government is, of course, saying the cupboard is bare. It is funny how they managed to conjure up hundreds of millions of dubious contracts for their mates during the pandemic, but now they say they can’t meet these pay demands.
With Rishi Sunak and his Mrs worth an estimated 730 million, he has some set of cohones on him to tell a care assistant she is not worth more than a tenner an hour.
Isn’t it funny how the magic money tree always seems to flourish when there is a war or banks need to be bailed out? But pay nurses a decent wage? No can do.
My message to all the nurses, ambulance, postal staff etc is to remember that you are the indispensable ones. If every bond trader in the UK disappeared tomorrow, we would not notice, but if you are unlucky enough to have a heart attack, you soon will notice when there is no ambulance to take you to the hospital and no staff to treat you when you get there.
Stay firm, you deserve everything and more.
Managing Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.
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