Some of the nationally recognised NHS trade unions are now in the process of balloting for industrial action in the form of strike action. Others have said that they will not hold ballots at this stage but will be “supporting” a day of action on 30 November, which could include lunch time meetings or local rallies, for example.
Unions have suggested that this could mark the start of an industrial action campaign over the next few months. A “yes” vote to strike action will give unions a mandate to call out members on 30 November and on other days and potentially for a longer period.
While we recognise the anxieties of staff, managers and trade unions who have traditionally been reluctant to disrupt patient care through industrial action, we believe patients will find the prospect of industrial action upsetting.
I am sure you will be planning to mitigate against the potential impact of this action on your organisation and your patients. I thought it would therefore be helpful to have a round up of which unions are planning to take action and what may happen next. A breakdown at the end of this letter outlines the latest positions of all the major health trade unions.
Once the outcome of the ballots are known, if there is a mandate for action, the unions will want to discuss arrangements to protect patient care and the various practical issues that will need to be addressed during industrial action. You may want to start exploring this now, as well as discussing appropriate messages for both staff and the public with your communication teams.
We would expect that the Department of Health, through the SHAs, will be undertaking monitoring of the impact of any industrial action as part of the usual emergency planning arrangements. You may want to consider how you will undertake your own monitoring.
If industrial action happens, employers would obviously take steps to ensure that the safety of patients is not compromised and would rightly expect the cooperation of staff and trade unions. Many professional staff will understand their obligations in this respect under their codes of practice, but patients and service users may well find their care disrupted.
Unions have said that in any industrial action they will ensure that nothing compromises the safety and urgent care of patients.
Any industrial action, including strike or action short of strike, which is undertaken by nurses or midwives should be conducted in a manner that is consistent with the principles set out in the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives. Similarly, other registered allied health professionals would be expected to follow the Health Professions Council's Standards of conduct, performance and ethics and you may want to familiarise yourselves and your local representatives with the guidance.
In view of the risk of industrial action and requests from employers, we have recently worked in collaboration with Beachcroft LLP to publish guidance to help you manage the legal, practical and operational risks presented by the threat of industrial disputes. The guidance stresses the importance of contingency planning and the key issue of ensuring the safety and welfare of patients.
It will be important during the balloting period that individuals understand the consequences for them of deciding to take part in any form of industrial action. Following requests from employers for assistance in this area, we have recently updated our guidance to include a example template for a policy statement on pay and related issues for local organisations to use if you have not already done your own. This covers issues such as the impact on pay and pensions. We hope you find it useful.
We are also adding a dedicated session on preparing for industrial action to our NHS Employers annual conference and exhibition at ACC Liverpool. This new session on 16 November will allow you to examine the practical issues that may arise when managing the operational impact of national industrial action, with input from experienced HR directors and legal experts. The conference website has all the information you need.
We will continue to keep you updated as we approach the day of action. As this is a dynamic and fast-changing area, a good way to keep up with the very latest developments is to follow me on twitter and LinkedIn.
Best wishes
Dean Royles
Unions balloting members on strike action
UNISON has written to employers giving formal notice that it is intending to hold a ballot for industrial strike action. The ballot will open on 11 October and will close on 3 November. UNISON will be asking its members to vote in favour of industrial action “to protect public sector pensions”. UNISON will be holding a national ballot and we understand will be aggregating votes from all of the local ballots. This will determine whether or not UNISON will take industrial action.
UNITE will be holding a ballot for industrial action during October. No dates have yet been published.
GMB has agreed to hold an industrial action ballot. No dates published.
Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) will begin balloting their members for industrial action. We understand this ballot will take place at the end of October.
Society of Radiographers we understand will be balloting its members for industrial action.
Managers in Partnership (MIP) will be balloting its members but this will be conducted by UNISON. This means that if UNISON’s overall membership agrees to industrial action, managers will be permitted to join in. Managers have traditionally played an important role in protecting services and ensuring contingency plans are implemented and organisations will expect managers to undertake responsibilities in the delivery of important and essential services, in the event of industrial action.
Unions supporting the day of action but not balloting members on strike action
British Medical Association (BMA) is supporting the planned day of action but decided that it was not balloting its members on industrial action at present. BMA has said that it is not ruling out industrial action of some kind in the future.
Royal College of Nursing (RCN) will support the day of action on 30 November but will not be balloting for industrial action. RCN has said that industrial action is “inevitable” if concerns about the changes to NHS pensions are not addressed in the ongoing negotiations. We understand RCN members will be encouraged to support protests, demonstrations and joint events on 30 November.
Royal College of Midwives (RCM) will not ballot on industrial action for now but will encourage members to support the day of action. RCM has commissioned an independent survey of its members’ views on pensions and plans to release the results of these at its conference in mid November.