Government gamble means working people are the losers, says UNISON

Speaking to the annual Trades Union Congress in Brighton today (Tuesday), UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said the time had come for the government to take responsibility for its actions, that working people were paying the price and that co-ordinated industrial action could help solve the pay crisis. “I was on a hospital picket line in Blackpool recently, early one morning in the wind and rain. “Most of the strikers were cleaners, catering staff or porters, who work for private company OCS. “They don’t get full NHS pay and leave, and even during the pandemic, when they worked on Christmas Day, they only got the usual rate. “All they want is the same wages and sick pay as directly-employed NHS staff doing the same job. One of the people I met on the picket told me she walks an hour to and from work every day as she can no longer afford the bus. “That’s the reality of taking strike action, the reality of the cost of living crisis and the depth of the pay crisis. “The picture inside NHS hospitals is not much prettier. Over a quarter have set up food banks to help their staff. “What a shameful period in our history. In-work poverty has spread right across our public services. Working people have struggled through austerity, a deadly pandemic and are in the middle of a devastating cost of living crisis. They now face a repeat of the penny-pinching austerity programme begun in 2010. “Meanwhile, the government has been playing roulette, racking u...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - Category: Food Science Authors: Tags: News Press release NHS ballot public sector pay TUC Source Type: news