h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I just got an e mail calling me out on strike. I never thought that would happen. I can see the reasons for the strike (the NHS pension scheme makes money, the contributions cover the costs, the extra contributions and raise in pension age wouldn't go into the pension scheme anyway) and I don't think patients will be harmed, because we're being told to go to work anyway, and attend to any duties that can't be postponed. My feelings are a bit mixed though, it all feels rather selfish.

The impact on patients will be less than the impact of a bank holiday, there will be more staff available than on a Saturday or Sunday, and we have an extra one of those for the Jubulee so I guess it isn't that bad.

I wouldn't have minded striking against the NHS reforms or the privatization, in fact I'd have been on the picket line. But I'm aware that the patients who will suffer are worse off than we are. Also I think it will just make us look bad in the eyes of the public.

I don't think it will affect me because I'm not paid by the NHS, I'm paid by a university. I do have £0/0 hours NHS contract so I can do clinical NHS work for free should I want to. I do wish we'd taken strike action against the NHS bill and not this.

Going on strike or not is always a tricky thing. The majority of the time I'm definitely for "Strike". Or at least I used to be.

The problem I found though was that too many of the unions were more corrupt in little ways than the bosses they were trying to protect you against. It's got to the point where I don't even join unions now.

I would say though, if you believe in the union, and you believe in what they generally stand for, then strike happily. Even if you don't agree with this one occasion. The strength of the unions is the united membership, and if a union loses that, it's lost all its bargaining power.

As for those of us folks that'll suffer, I think it'll be fine. We've been so used to waiting ages in doctors surgeries for years now I'm not sure we'll notice

My admiration and gratitude to all front line staff in the NHS is well recorded/documented. However, on this occasion I think the call for industrial action on this issue is misguided and will not go down well with the public in general. When you compare pension benefits, even under the new regime, they far exceed anything the average public worker gets (and a lot of private pensions come to that).
My brother is a Senior Parks Ranger with, during summer months, as many as 70 staff he's in charge of yet his pension, (which he now won't get till 67), is only going to be just short of £9000.00. A salaried GP will get an average of £58,000.
I don't think this is a good time for doctors to be striking when everyone else, especially the low paid, private and public, are facing such severe cutbacks. Its a bad move and one I fear they'll come to regret.

I think pensions are an important issue. In the public sector we are seeing a drive to get rid of final salary pensions because the private sector have. This has largely been driven by the legislation introduced by the Conservative government to allow private sector companies to take payment holidays in the boom years. When investments fell in value the worker was left to bear the brunt through loss of benefits. We should be working to drive up demand for good pensions rather than accepting the drive towards the lowest common denominator. I have a local government pension and I have been on strike to protect it.

My first thought on this was that all the awful changes being foisted on the NHS in the godawful health and social care bill, and the thing that gets doctors to strike is the prospect of having to work as long as everyone else and only have more than most people when they do retire. It shouldn't be a race to the bottom, and people should be able to protect their terms against being made worse...but it doesn't feel like the thing they *should* be striking about.

I know. Logically we have every right to strike. I hope that if the consultant body of a hospital have gone on strike that will set the example and give everyone the confidence to stand up.

I don't want to do it though. And I'm really glad I don't have to. Patients come first, that's sort of imprinted on the back of my brain. If there was a national crisis and I didn't get paid I would still turn up and take care of the patients. Admittedly only the very sick ones, and I certainly wouldn't do the non-urgent work.

But then I'm also a socialist and I don't want to be a blackleg. I was in the SWP. Support the prolateriate and that.

Help!

Isn't forming unions and striking something that grew out of the proletarian struggle?

Yes, the thing is I have two very deep values that are in conflict.

1. Support your fellow workers.

2. Take care of your patients.

And a lesser value: don't look like a total arrogant tit in the eyes of the public.

Isn't a problem for healthcare professionals the fact that they can be emotionally blackmailed - something I noticed Edwina Currie rushing to do yesterday

Without getting into the rights and wrongs of this industrial action, isn't it true that people scheduled for "non-urgent" procedures like hip replacements and the like will just be put back on the waiting list? It's not the same as a Bank Holiday, because they wouldn't have been scheduled for the procedure on a holiday. So someone who has been waiting for 3 months will find themselves facing a similar wait again (though I'd imagine they'd be given priority consideration in the event of cancellations).