It takes a lot to push dedicated NHS staff into taking industrial action and we sincerely hope it won't come to that
Health unions representing nurses, midwives, doctors, scientific, technical, administrative and ancillary staff have agreed to set up a campaign group to co-ordinate our response to the government's attacks on our members' pensions, including preparing for the possibility of industrial action.
No union wants this, but our members are facing cuts in jobs, a pay freeze at a time of rising inflation, increasing workloads and stress, as well as the potential break-up of the NHS as we know it ? in England at least.
Now the government is proposing huge increases in pension contribution rates and staff will have to work longer to get less. Does anyone really want a 68-year-old paramedic carrying patients down stairs or rushing to respond to a serious incident?
The government argues that people are living longer and so public sector pensions must be reformed and be affordable. Yet the additional money they want to take from health workers pay is not going into making their pensions more sustainable; it's not even going towards offsetting the costs to employers ie the NHS ? it's going straight into the treasury, to offset the budget deficit.
We believe this is a tax on committed public sector workers, which is fundamentally unjust. The chancellor should be looking to raise this money from the banks and financial institutions that got the country into this mess. It is a disgrace that they are still managing to make huge profits and pay themselves handsome bonuses and, yes, indecently large pensions and payoffs for senior staff. Even the governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, said "the price of this financial crisis is being borne by people who absolutely did not cause it".
But unions and their members are realistic. So much so, that just three years ago we renegotiated the NHS pension scheme and agreed that the employers contribution rate would be capped at 14%. The agreement said that any additional costs would be borne by the workforce, and we agreed a new tiered and increased contribution rate.
The government has not produced any new evidence to show that the basis for the agreement of just three years ago was wrong. Actuarial assumptions about longevity rates or workforce numbers haven't changed significantly in three years' pension planning, as those involved know.
So what are we fighting to protect? Well, not a luxurious retirement package by any standards: the average pension in the NHS is �7,500 per annum, and for women it is around �3,000. Even these figures are distorted by the fact that 20% of the membership of the NHS pension scheme is made up of GPs, hospital doctors and other senior professionals. The average pension for the majority of members in the scheme is significantly below these figures.
The high level talks between the Cabinet Office, the Treasury and the TUC are still ongoing and we remain committed to the sector specific talks. In health, however, it feels as though there is little room for manoeuvre, with the Treasury dictating direction and setting an unrealistic timescale. We are expected to complete the talks by the end of October yet we won't get detailed financial information until early October.
We know our members expect us to try and negotiate a way through this; it's what trade unions do. We also recognise that taking industrial action will be very difficult for NHS workers, for Unison's members, whether nurses, occupational therapists, medical secretaries, cooks or porters; the care and wellbeing of patients is paramount. The logistics of organising strike action across the NHS while ensuring emergency cover and patient safety are daunting.
So, although we're hoping for the best, we have to plan for the worst. As a responsible union, we believe we need to start these preparations early. So, over the next few months, we will be planning for all eventualities, including strike action, selective action and emergency cover protocols.
It takes a lot to push dedicated NHS staff into taking industrial action and we sincerely hope it won't come to that. But if it does, patients must be protected and working with other health unions, we are taking all the steps needed to make sure we are prepared.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/26/nhs-pensions-union-strike
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