Unison’s NHS pay action ballot closed on 25 November but as of 29 Nov Unison is yet to announce the results.
Early indications suggest union leaders are wobbling. Unison Scotland is recommending members accept a new below-inflation offer just £250-350 more than was previously rejected. Unite is consulting on that offer without a recommendation. GMB is recommending their members reject the offer but have suspended strikes by Scottish ambulance workers that were due to start on Monday.
All this dithering and backsliding must delight the Tory and SNP governments.
The RCN and RCM have still to announce a decision about what they do in Scotland. They should not insult the thousands of midwives and nurses who voted for strikes by wasting a minute in further consultative ballots. These unilateral actions by the other unions undermine the RCN's powerful bargaining position and suck momentum out of the strike movement. Nurses, healthcare assistants and midwives who understand we need a powerful strike movement should join the RCN strikes.
In Northern Ireland, Unison has announced a day of work-to-rule on 5 December and a one day strike on 12 December. It is not clear why they are refusing to coordinate with the RCN who are planning UK wide strikes on 15 and 20 December, or why the work-to-rule is planned for one day only. Healthworkers in Northern Ireland should refuse to cross one another’s picket lines and insist their union leaderships coordinate their diaries.
A strike movement is an opportunity to reorganise our unions on a democratic basis. The starting point is to organise cross-union strike committees, open to all, that can apply grassroots pressure on our supple-spined leaderships and ensure they do not sell us out.