We informed you yesterday afternoon that Unison members had voted in favour of strike action. Unison said its NHS members backed action by 73,930 to 15,753 in a 25 per cent turnout.
On Wednesday the Chief Secretary to the Treasury gave a revised pension offer that is the basis for further detailed discussions. We still believe that it is premature to take industrial action, a view we have expressed since before the ballot, when there is this chance to reach agreement. We are also still waiting for the results of ballots from the other unions, however following this result and the Unison announcement, it seems prudent to plan for likely strike action.
As an organisation we understand the anxieties felt by staff and recognise health service unions have historically been reluctant to ballot for industrial action but we have also expressed our view that industrial action will impact on patient care. We will continue to encourage all parties to seek ways of avoiding action. This email is not the time for debating the rights and wrongs of the pension dispute and I will keep you informed of any developments. It is however essential that we do focus on the potential impact of the yes vote on patients. Patient care and service users will be affected by strike action, so planning and dialogue remain crucial. Our key priority, outside of pensions discussions, is to work with the unions nationally to ensure an absolute focus on patient safety and to ensure that they are working constructively with local employers on contingency planning.
I am sure that you are aware that the yes vote has given Unison the authority to call further strike action beyond the 30 November in the coming weeks. Although no further action beyond the 30 November has been announced, we believe it is prudent for your contingency plans to take this into account. Unions are required to give employers a minimum of seven days’ notice of strike action. However, our understanding is that action 'short of strike', such as work to rule, overtime bans etc is unlikely as this was not covered by the ballot. A number of unions, including the BMA, RCN and RCM are not balloting their members for strike action, but they have indicated that they are encouraging their members to support the day of action on 30 November by attending lunchtime rallies etc. The BMA and RCN have issued guidance to their members about this, which you may find useful to review.
I understand from national trade unions that they will be issuing advice to their local branches to engage with employers on issues around contingency plans and emergency cover during the day of action. There is a commitment from the staff side to ensure patient safety and protecting emergency services during industrial action.
I have also written separately to the chief executive of Managers in Partnership (MiP), Jon Restell, about the important role and responsibilities of senior managers during any industrial action that might be taken. MiP members have taken part in the wider Unison ballot and are not having a separate vote. I have explained our view that employers will be looking to managers to make an important contribution to local contingency planning and emergency cover arrangements and I have been assured by MiP that they will make every effort to ensure that their members help maintain patient safety.
We are expecting all unions to publish their own individual guidance to members and activists. I believe in general this union guidance will stress the need to co-operate locally to work to provide cover in line with that provided on weekends or public holidays. You will need to discuss this locally while bearing in mind that any contingency plans for industrial action will also need to take account of any issues brought about by other industrial action across the public sector, such as school closures or transport disruption. This will provide added complications to your planning.
If you have not already done so, you may want to:
1. continue to review and update your local contingency plans in light of local intelligence
2. consider advance notification to patients and public that there may be action which will affect services
3. actively engage your local JCC in planning the cover arrangements
4. liaise with local partners in communicating these arrangements
5. recognise that there will be local press interest in the impact of action as well as pickets and demonstrations
6. review arrangements for elective and non-urgent activity
7. anticipate that both your local SHA and the Department of Health will be undertaking some form of monitoring/situation reporting on 30 November, to enable them to assess the local impact of industrial action so you may want to consider arrangements for doing this.
You may also want to review our guidance on preparing for industrial action and we will also be publishing a series of FAQs shortly. To help make sure the FAQs respond to your needs, please feel free to contact me and let me know the key issues you would like further advice on. In addition to the industrial action session at our annual conference on 16 November, we are also holding an online seminar on 21 November that is free to attend and will allow you to put questions to one of our legal advisers.
I will continue to provide you with regular updates as we near the 30 November. A good way to keep up with the very latest developments is to follow me on twitter and LinkedIn.
I do hope that action is avoidable but hope in the meantime that you find this update useful for planning and reporting to your boards and senior management teams.
Yours sincerely
Dean Royles
Press statement
Read Dean Royles' press statement about the Unison announcement.