ICTU general secretary David Begg has accused the Troika’s “neoliberal zealots” of causing untold misery to the Irish people by wrecking Ireland's economy. The Troika of the European Commission, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank are wedded to a strict neoliberal approach to dealing with the deficit, he tells this issue of Union Post. The magazine also covers the 20 October rally, a UNISON survey showing nurses are under huge workload pressures and Dave Prentis's demolition of regional pay.
http://www.ictu.ie/publications/fulllist/union-post-october-2012/
The dynamic and progressive celebration of British social history that was the Olympics Opening Ceremony included a powerful reminder to the world that this country still really values the NHS and its universal service - personified in all our minds by the nurses who care for us. Whilst Polly Toynbee writing in the Guardian strikes the right note about the celebration, we all still recognised a source of our pride.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/30/danny-boyle-olympics-ceremony-partial-history It means we are not America with its profit driven health care system brilliantly exposed by Michael Moore in Sicko.
US trade unions staged protests outside the British Embassy in Washington and in Consulates in all major cities including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Orlando and Las Vegas.Mary Kay Henry, the President of UNISON's sister union SEIU, wrote to Dave Prentis saying: 'Whether in the UK or the US; it is time to confront those politicians, CEOs and corporate backed right-wing movements who seek to destroy the public sector. It is time for ordinary people to retake control of their lives. It is time to act with the courage of our convictions and the strength of our numbers’ Photos can be seen here http://www.flickr.com/photos/seiu and a report can be read at
http://strongerunions.org/2011/12/01/us-nurses-backed-our-pension-protests/
UNISON has responded robustly to the outrageous interference of the Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) in the pensions dispute. On Thursday the NMC issued a statement (ahead of next week's ballot) implying that nurses taking industrial action would breach their professional code of conduct. Dave Prentis said “we have taken legal advice, and in our view, the NMC’s threatening statement was wrong. If members choose to take lawful industrial action they will not be in breach of the Code of Conduct". UNISON will be launching legal action on Monday:
http://www.unison.org.uk/asppresspack/pressrelease_view.asp?id=2474
The supposedly independent NHS Pay Review Body has adopted Government policy that a 2 year pay freeze should be applied to all NHS staff except for those earning less than £21,000 per annum (NHS pay spine points 1 to 15) who will receive a £250 flat rate pay rise in 2011/12:
Staff at St Georges Hospital, South London have acted with growing shock and anger at the announcement that 500 posts ( almost 10% of the workforce) at the hospital are to be axed as part of the Governments £20 billion NHS cuts programme.
Four hundred theatre nurses and practitioner UNISON members at St Georges hospital, South London, have started balloting in an “indicative” ballot that could lead to official industrial action at St Georges by nurses for the first time in twenty three years.
Nursing and NHS professionals at St Georges, Tooting, South London started 2011 by taking time out at lunch time to protest at the Governments planned NHS reforms and decision to cut £10bn a year from the NHS through so called efficiency savings.
Kingston hospital’s decision to freeze front-line nursing posts will hit patient care hard as well as adding to the burden on existing over-stretched staff, said UNISON nurses at the hospital yesterday. The nurses condemned moves to cut the number of nurses on wards as part of a jobs freeze at the hospital, saying that it flies in the face of pledges to protect front-line NHS staff. The Trust management have stated that they will not replace nurses who leave unless they are “critical”.
