Whoever wins in May, there’s likely to be significant change to the NHS. We believe that success hinges on the successful engagement and empowerment of the workforce. So what does the NHS workforce want?
We’ve long been used to the hostility towards trade unions exhibited by some of the more excitable elements on the fringes of the Tory right. From Aiden Burley and the Trade Union Reform Campaign to Priti Patel and her friends in the Taxpayers Alliance, there has been a constant stream of inaccurate and misleading attacks…
People from all walks of life joined together to fight the Health and Social Care Act that the government pushed through in 2012. And again we mobilised when the government introduced the Section 75 regulations which appeared to enforce competition throughout the NHS, contrary to government assurances. Despite hard campaigning, we are left with an…
Rail fares are continuing to outstrip inflation and wages, even in times of recession. Our research has shown that from January 2008, rail fares have increased over 26%, three times faster than average wages. Now they’re set to rise again, with a 3.9% increase in January, the tenth straight year of inflation-busting rail fare rises. …
These are pivotal times for the UK’s railways, for those who use rail services and those who work in the industry. Multiple franchises are up for grabs in the next three years and the government and train operators are looking at ways to slash £3.5bn costs from the industry. The government is unsurprisingly backing the…
An email from HR Review Update landed in my inbox. ‘Majority of private sector employees oppose public sector strikes’ read the story. But on closer inspection, it made for slightly more interesting reading than the usual line trotted out by various right wing commentators and Tory ministers. The poll was conducted by recruitment consultants, Badenoch…
If confronted by some cliched ridden dinosaur telling you that unions have no place in the modern world of work and achieve nothing, helpfully point them in the way of two news stories that broke this week. On Monday, we learned about the RMT’s deal with Network Rail protecting their members from compulsory redundancies while delivering a…