AFTER a succession of four increasingly farcical and tokenistic stunts and 'days of action', the 13 TUC-affiliated health unions have grudgingly called a national demonstration on July 29 to promote their pay demands.
The decision follows pressure by conference delegates on the biggest health union UNISON to stop dragging its feet and step up the desultory campaign against the Tories' insulting offer of a 1% increase with another 2% subject to negotiation with Trusts and the abolition of national pay agreements.
Health workers are facing a crucial fight to defend their national pay agreements against Trust-by-Trust local pay bargaining that would leave each hospital's workforce to fight its own employers alone.
While a handful of strongly-organised workplaces might hope to make short-term gains under local bargaining, only the most naive and complacent activists or union officials believe that it offers any long-term benefor all NHS staff FAIR PAY UNISON Jo Stalle INISON E UNISON Will the unions pull out the stops for July 29? fit to staff. action to negotiate separate That's why the Tory offer deals on their own behalfhas been overwhelmingly re- and to poach a few members jected, even though the un- from UNISON, whose leaders ions are not claiming any are terrified of the thought of more cash than the miser- national action. able 3% already on the table. A lunchtime protest on There is real anger among March 30 was followed by a health workers: a determined half-hearted lobby of Parliaeffort by activists could make ment on April 20, a patchy July 29 a rallying point from protest on May 1 and a photowhich serious industrial ac- opportunity stunt by a handtion can be called, and the ful of nurses carrying long-running saga of delays cardboard cut-outs of Virand half-hearted threats ginia Bottomley on June 7. turned into a real fight. Leaders of UNISON and UNISON has repeatedly the other health unions must delayed any ballot for indus- be told to pull out all the trial action as the dispute has stops for July 29, and to comdragged on for months. bine the campaign for a huge Since the 1% offer was first demonstration with the camproposed the Royal Colleges of paign for a massive yes vote Midwives and Nursing have for industrial action to win set out to exploit the threat of this dispute.
SOCIALIST OUTLOOK No. 86, June 24 1995 page 6.