By Kevin Corran
On Wednesday 26 August, hundreds marched from Buille Hill Park to Salford Royal Hospital in support of the 350 Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust (NCA) employees. Included in the crowd were nurses, clinical support workers and housekeepers from as far and wide as Salford, Oldham, Rochdale and Bury.
The march drew together other UNISON branches from across the region, Unite members, Manchester Trades Council and pensioners’ group, as well as Salford people concerned about the future of the NHS services in their region.
The march finished at the hospital, where we joined a lively and militant picket line which the rain could not dampen. After the picket had finished, we held a rally and family day, where speakers from across the wider workers movement pledged their continuing support for the strikers.
These NHS operating theatre staff in Greater Manchester will be back on strike on 15 and 17 September.
The employer is refusing to engage with the union. After initially tabling an offer to resolve the dispute, the NCA bosses withdrew this offer before discussions could even take place!
This dispute centres on the NCA’s use of an outside agency – NHS Professionals (NHSP) – to manage overtime.
When covering staff shortages, staff are entitled to time-and-a-half pay, thanks to national agreements. The strikers are demanding no more than their contract entitles them to.
In some cases, staff earn less than they would on a normal shift, with some missing out on more than £80 per shift. This total disregard by the NCA bosses has infuriated the staff.
These bosses have shown a lack of leadership and an arrogance that is typical of the highly-paid bureaucrats that lord over our public services. This layer of management, many earning well over £100,000 a year, are detached from the struggles of skilled workers in the NHS who deal with the life-and-death decisions on a daily basis, as well as the daily struggle caused by the cost-of-living crisis.
These operating theatre staff were previously on picket lines at all four sites in June, and this dispute will continue until they win. With the support of the wider workers’ movement and a plan to escalate their action, they can still bring the bloated, arrogant and ineffective bosses to heel.
There are no easy victories against this type of employer, but their intransigence and arrogance can be met by our solidarity and militancy. UNISON regionally and nationally need to rally behind the strikers with the full force of the union.
Our NHS is under attack. Although the trade union movement is winning individual battles across the country, the best way to stop these attacks is to organise co-ordinated trade union action on NHS pay, Insourcing those privatised services and funding for health services based on our needs.
Only a concerted campaign on these issues, linking working-class communities, trade unions, campaign groups and the wider workers’ movement can save the NHS from a future of continuing privatisation, low pay and underfunding.
