Paul Holmes opens NDC with rallying call

UNISON president Paul Holmes opened UNISON’s first in-person national delegate conference in three years, in Brighton today, by voicing the union’s anger at the way the UK government – “some kind of upper-class Wetherspoons” –  is running the country. The inflation rate in the UK for the bottom 10% of earners has hit 14%, he said, before talking about two women in Wakefield who had recently been interviewed by the BBC, in light of the imminent by-election in their city. One said that she would run out of money for electricity by 9 o’clock in the morning, the other that she could not afford to eat. “It’s heartbreaking,” he said. “These are stories that your grandparents and your great grandparents told you. Not the stories we expect to hear today.” And he quoted the late Tony Benn: “When we see the way the government treats refuges, we know how they would treat us if they could get away with it.” The president made particular mention of the NHS. “Everybody is beholden to the NHS. It’s our golden jewel.” But, according to the World Health Organisation, 180,000 health and care workers died in the world through COVID-19 related illness, he said. “One third of NHS workers are saying they are going to leave the health service in the next 12 months… One third of nurses in Britain don’t have good emotional health. “It’s not just about pay, it’s being appreciated, it’s about working for an organisation that doesnR...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: News 2022 National Delegate Conference Source Type: news