When Royal College of Nursing General Secretary Pat Cullen arrived at the Supreme Court on Thursday to hear about the outcome of her union’s dispute with the government over the latest strike, she seemed resigned to defeat.
To the surprise of the ministers, the union did not even assemble a team of lawyers to defend itself at the hearings, but instead provided affidavits in their own defense with the clear expectation that they would lose.
Government insiders had expected it would take more than 24 hours for the court to reach a verdict on the legality of the May 2 strike, but Judge Linden finally ruled within hours.
In a highly critical ruling, the judge stated that the RCN should have “grabbed the nettles” and admitted their mistake. He asked the union to pay the government £35,000 in compensation.
Outside of court, Ms. Cullen could barely contain her anger at the ministers, saying the case was “an indictment against the government.”
Although the last day of their strike is free, nurses will continue to be absent on Sundays and Mondays during public holidays, including from emergency rooms, intensive care units and oncology units for the first time in dispute.
RCN leaders and NHS hospital leaders are negotiating this weekend on how to deal with the strike in what could be the biggest strike in the healthcare sector since the massive strikes began more than six months ago.
While intensive care units will be severely understaffed, the union is in talks to agree on action if there is a critical risk to patient safety – possibly including nurses who leave pickets and return to hospitals in the event of a major accident or other incident.
While the public is generally supportive of the striking nurses, Rishi Sunak’s government has taken a more optimistic stance in recent weeks.
Insiders in Whitehall believe the nurses’ union is becoming more isolated as GMB and Unison members voted in favor of the government’s wage increase proposal.
The rejections could have come from RCN and Unite, but GMB and Unison have significantly more NHS staff, meaning Tuesday’s NHS Works Council vote is likely to support the collective bargaining agreement.
In fact, ministers believe they may have sued RCN over previous strike waves, arguing that the union did not agree to the minimum level of long service required by law to protect life.
The lawsuit is said to have come this week after a number of NHS vendors asked the government to help end the strike and complained they couldn’t sue themselves.
“Clearly suing nurses is not the best idea,” said a source close to Mr. Sunak, but the health ministry decided to go ahead with the case after being told it was likely to win the case.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay is said to have been appalled by the approach of RCN boss Cullen, who publicly backed the proposed compensation scheme before its members voted against it, and now says the exit has been inadequate all along.
A government source suggested that she overdid it by approving the deal, which was ultimately rejected and now overcompensated to secure her own position.
The government is nervous as it is considered too aggressive towards the striking unions, but Barclay is ready to crack down on young doctors as he believes they are less popular with the general public.
However, I believes that the Minister of Health is also ready to contact young doctors to negotiate a deal.
The British Medical Association’s call for a 35% pay rise continues to be met with strong opposition from insiders in the ministry, but sentiment is certainly changing, according to an insider.
A Whitehall source said the dispute with the young doctors was “very difficult” but the ministers, in a letter from the BMA’s head of young doctors, Dr. J. Robert Lorenson and Dr. This week, Vivek Trivedi gave Mr. Barclay a “more conciliatory tone” and expressed his hope that talks would start soon.
A source in Whitehall said: “Steve will be in touch to set up a meeting in the next few days. Let’s see what’s going on.”
Signs of a potential breakthrough among young doctors linked to an NHS staff salary proposal expected to be approved next week will give Mr Sunak a boost ahead of next Thursday’s local elections as the Conservatives brace for massive city council losses .
The NHS pay dispute followed the prime minister’s fate: Mr Sunak’s popularity skyrocketed when the RCN reached a tentative deal with the government in March and became even more popular when the NHS unions followed suit.
The rejection of that salary by RCN members was a blow to the way No. 10 portrays Mr. Sunak as a deal-making prime minister who gets things done.
If, as expected, the NHS Works Council votes in favor of the deal, “then the Foreign Secretary will implement the salary proposal,” a Whitehall source said.
“What to do if they want to vote for strikes again is up to the RCN. Steve always says his door is open. He is always happy to talk to Pat. But that was our last offer. There is no more money. This is a fair and reasonable offer.”
Government insiders are confident that the thirst for more strikes will continue after the NHS collective bargaining agreement – with a 6% bonus last year and a 5% pay increase this year – is included in pay packages for workers, including nurses. go. Holidays from RCN will disappear.
This is a big game. The RCN boss has made it clear that she is ready to vote for a strike by next Christmas if necessary.
The RCN plans to announce a new all-or-nothing strike next week to extend its strike mandate for another six months. The announcement is expected to be made on Tuesday, May 2, the day the health workers unions in the NHS workers’ council are due to ratify the collective bargaining agreement.
An all-or-nothing vote means that the results of the vote apply to all RCN members across the country, i.e. it is a nationwide strike of all nurses with the unification of votes in all regions.
The previous strike vote was split, meaning that each region’s strike threshold had to be reached in order for a strike to take place. This is Ms. Cullen’s risky strategy because if the threshold is not reached in one area, it will not be reached at the national level.
But even with more positive signs of the NHS war, other controversies are still raging – especially with civil servants and teachers who show no signs of breaking through. The winter of discontent stretches into spring.
Another source of tension is the long-promised NHS workforce plan, which was originally supposed to be released at the same time as the March budget but is now not expected until June at the earliest.
Mr. Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said it was important to live up to the expectations of the plan, which aims to increase the number of doctors and nurses to fill the current shortage. “We want this to be a very important moment,” a Downing Street insider said.
But this is a moment that can backfire. If the plan does not include realistic proposals for a basic NHS staff recruitment and retention scheme – and is underfunded – health unions may see this as yet another reason for more litigation.
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.