‘ We ’ ve been stabbed in the back by Boris Johnson ’

Pay dominated the second day of UNISON’s virtual health conference, with delegates discussing the crisis now facing members’ finances. Conference heard of the huge number of health workers earning below the living wage, of hardworking colleagues forced to use food banks, of the student nurses who fell behind in their training as they were enlisted to help fight COVID and now without the investment and support to get back on track. Thousands of exhausted NHS staff – including healthcare assistants, ambulance workers and hospital porters – are facing what is predicted to be the worst winter in history for the NHS, a mounting patient backlog and staffing shortages. At the same time, the value of the 3% pay rise imposed by the government has already been wiped out by soaring inflation. The general feeling was summed up by Roz Norman, chair of the health service group executive (HSGE), when she said that NHS staff had “stepped up to the plate time and time and time again” during the pandemic, only to be “stabbed in the back by Boris Johnson”. Today’s debates followed the result yesterday of the union’s consultation of health members in England regarding the 3% award – with 80% of those who voted willing to oppose it through industrial action. UNISON head of health Sara Gorton opened the conference’s morning session outlining the next steps in this immediate dispute for English members. She noted that “65,000 members are ready and willing to strike”, but...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: News 2021 Virtual Health Conference Source Type: news