The leader of the Royal College of Nursing has said a legal attempt by the health secretary to block next weekend’s strike in England is “frightening for democracy and very frightening for trade unionism”.
Pat Cullen, general secretary of the RCN, said it was “disgraceful” that Steve Barclay was **attempting to thwart the strike via the courts**, and said nurses would “not be bullied into silence”.
If you make strikes illegal then striking will no longer be about workers pay and conditions, it will become about upholding democracy too. It’s only an authoritarian government that cares nothing for its people that can be found criminalising its citizens for wanting better conditions. These Tories are writing the final chapter for the Conservative party by going down this dark route. They make out it’s about fiscal responsibility and the economy can not provide what the strikers want and need, but we endlessly see them waste money and taking it for themselves and often found redirecting it to their mates. I am sorry for the rant but I pray for the end of these parasites ruling us. It can’t come soon enough.
The Conservative Party has gone full Victorian now.
I’m sure it’s about appealing to their dwindling support base, mostly quite elderly, and who in most cases have grandparents from the victorian era.
Anyone ‘undecided’ about the next General Election may well be a conservative but they’re not people the Conservative Party is attracting.
The government won’t win on this. Irrespective of any court judgement this strike will be going ahead. This dispute is not a legal issue and the tories are fools for trying to make it one.
Surely the courts can’t stop this? If they do, we all need to take to the streets. Support the workers!
As I understand it, the legal argument is basically “you had a vote for strike action 6 months ago, that mandate has expired (by a single day)”
It might legally be correct, but fucking hell, its a technicality that’s nothing to fix the situation. If this legal action is successful, the nurses unions will have another vote and overwhelmingly vote to strike, probably in higher numbers than before.
If anything it’s going to entrench the nurses further and make their negotiations less flexible. Short sighted to me.
I support strikes, but genuinely curious what’s to stop people just perpetually going on strike to ask for more and more ? Feel like there does have to be some independent mechanism in place that says this is now a fair offer, does that exist ?
Why don’t they just vote to extend the strike mandate. Problem solved. The govt is clutching at straws here.
The Tories are trying to destroy the country at this point.
So many people seem to think Nurses are slaves, and they can work for the NHS or go die in a fire. In reality its a group of intelligent, skilled workers sending a massive warning – under the Tories this job is not viable or the best choice for workers.
This isn’t the miners strike, a dying industry trying to cling on. This is workers saying, pay us or lose us, theres no third option where they just deal with it.
I suspect a lot of people are going off sick, should this idiotic action actually stop the strikes.
Be a shame if someone suggests other unions follow suit…
I wouldn’t make issue with Steve Barclay specifically on this, since the rules do seem to support him. What I would be pointing to is the 50+ years of legislation eroding workers rights and the power of strikes. I can’t remember where it was but I have seen a very good summary somewhere of all of the different rules that have been introduced to neuter strikes – and that’s without the current minimum service levels rule that’s being introduced.
I agree Steve Barclay is being petty but at the same time it does seem a little bit silly that the union did not seek a renewal of their strike mandate in advance as the negotiations were going nowhere.
I really think the Government perhaps should take a look at the cost/benefit results of guaranteeing nurses, health professionals and some other protected employees a certain level of pay which will encourage people to join the profession combined with maintaining that pay approximately in line with average earnings (maintaining it in line with inflation may not be realistic). I’m fairly certain that having a good supply of nurses and doctors is financially beneficial to society as a whole.
Typical of the people who claim to be for free speech to come down on those exerting their right to strike.
It seems like nurses can’t catch a break from the disgraceful people leading them.
Steve Barclay doesn’t give a shit about them, but lets not forget that Pat Cullen nullified a vote of no confidence on the grounds there were signatures with membership numbers from deceased RCN members, despite the fact that only the RCN has access to those membership numbers in the first place.
She put a terrible deal in front of her members, rejected their calls for leadership change, and now puts the government on blast as if she wasn’t towing their line a couple of weeks ago.
The continuing demonstrations of Small Penis Energy shown by this Government would be entertaining were it not for how many people they fuck with those energies.
The absolute state of this country. Not long ago, we were supposed to be out in the street supporting nurses, but now we want to strip them of their rights. Everyone that has consistently voted for the Tory party needs to look at themselves and be utterly ashamed. We sit and joke about countries like Russia and the USA, but we are nearly slipping to their level. We would rather go to court than address the actual problem.
I’ve got a solution to get tons of money from the tories, no questions asked.
Tell them the NHS is Ukraine.
Seems silly to try this tactic on an organisation that heavily relies on the good will of its work force. Won’t let them strike… work to rule it is. And I’d argue that work to rule will be far more damaging if they go down that path.
18 comments
*From the article*…
The leader of the Royal College of Nursing has said a legal attempt by the health secretary to block next weekend’s strike in England is “frightening for democracy and very frightening for trade unionism”.
Pat Cullen, general secretary of the RCN, said it was “disgraceful” that Steve Barclay was **attempting to thwart the strike via the courts**, and said nurses would “not be bullied into silence”.
If you make strikes illegal then striking will no longer be about workers pay and conditions, it will become about upholding democracy too. It’s only an authoritarian government that cares nothing for its people that can be found criminalising its citizens for wanting better conditions. These Tories are writing the final chapter for the Conservative party by going down this dark route. They make out it’s about fiscal responsibility and the economy can not provide what the strikers want and need, but we endlessly see them waste money and taking it for themselves and often found redirecting it to their mates. I am sorry for the rant but I pray for the end of these parasites ruling us. It can’t come soon enough.
The Conservative Party has gone full Victorian now.
I’m sure it’s about appealing to their dwindling support base, mostly quite elderly, and who in most cases have grandparents from the victorian era.
Anyone ‘undecided’ about the next General Election may well be a conservative but they’re not people the Conservative Party is attracting.
The government won’t win on this. Irrespective of any court judgement this strike will be going ahead. This dispute is not a legal issue and the tories are fools for trying to make it one.
Surely the courts can’t stop this? If they do, we all need to take to the streets. Support the workers!
As I understand it, the legal argument is basically “you had a vote for strike action 6 months ago, that mandate has expired (by a single day)”
It might legally be correct, but fucking hell, its a technicality that’s nothing to fix the situation. If this legal action is successful, the nurses unions will have another vote and overwhelmingly vote to strike, probably in higher numbers than before.
If anything it’s going to entrench the nurses further and make their negotiations less flexible. Short sighted to me.
I support strikes, but genuinely curious what’s to stop people just perpetually going on strike to ask for more and more ? Feel like there does have to be some independent mechanism in place that says this is now a fair offer, does that exist ?
Why don’t they just vote to extend the strike mandate. Problem solved. The govt is clutching at straws here.
The Tories are trying to destroy the country at this point.
So many people seem to think Nurses are slaves, and they can work for the NHS or go die in a fire. In reality its a group of intelligent, skilled workers sending a massive warning – under the Tories this job is not viable or the best choice for workers.
This isn’t the miners strike, a dying industry trying to cling on. This is workers saying, pay us or lose us, theres no third option where they just deal with it.
I suspect a lot of people are going off sick, should this idiotic action actually stop the strikes.
Be a shame if someone suggests other unions follow suit…
I wouldn’t make issue with Steve Barclay specifically on this, since the rules do seem to support him. What I would be pointing to is the 50+ years of legislation eroding workers rights and the power of strikes. I can’t remember where it was but I have seen a very good summary somewhere of all of the different rules that have been introduced to neuter strikes – and that’s without the current minimum service levels rule that’s being introduced.
I agree Steve Barclay is being petty but at the same time it does seem a little bit silly that the union did not seek a renewal of their strike mandate in advance as the negotiations were going nowhere.
I really think the Government perhaps should take a look at the cost/benefit results of guaranteeing nurses, health professionals and some other protected employees a certain level of pay which will encourage people to join the profession combined with maintaining that pay approximately in line with average earnings (maintaining it in line with inflation may not be realistic). I’m fairly certain that having a good supply of nurses and doctors is financially beneficial to society as a whole.
Typical of the people who claim to be for free speech to come down on those exerting their right to strike.
It seems like nurses can’t catch a break from the disgraceful people leading them.
Steve Barclay doesn’t give a shit about them, but lets not forget that Pat Cullen nullified a vote of no confidence on the grounds there were signatures with membership numbers from deceased RCN members, despite the fact that only the RCN has access to those membership numbers in the first place.
She put a terrible deal in front of her members, rejected their calls for leadership change, and now puts the government on blast as if she wasn’t towing their line a couple of weeks ago.
The continuing demonstrations of Small Penis Energy shown by this Government would be entertaining were it not for how many people they fuck with those energies.
The absolute state of this country. Not long ago, we were supposed to be out in the street supporting nurses, but now we want to strip them of their rights. Everyone that has consistently voted for the Tory party needs to look at themselves and be utterly ashamed. We sit and joke about countries like Russia and the USA, but we are nearly slipping to their level. We would rather go to court than address the actual problem.
I’ve got a solution to get tons of money from the tories, no questions asked.
Tell them the NHS is Ukraine.
Seems silly to try this tactic on an organisation that heavily relies on the good will of its work force. Won’t let them strike… work to rule it is. And I’d argue that work to rule will be far more damaging if they go down that path.