Rishi Sunak is working on tough new anti-strike laws

What is the right solution @ExpectMore ? What would you do if you were a health worker under intense strain, barely able to live on your wage, traumatised by the last few years, tempted to walk away from your career because of not being able to provide decent healthcare to people who need it?

I think they've raised all these concerns nicely. Many times. It's not new. The government solution is to ignore it and hope people start calling for privatisation before too many people die on trolleys in corridors.

What would you do?

Staff to patient ratios are now unsafe and getting worse.

... so it's a great idea to exasperate this by withholding labour...?! Come on, isn't it obvious that isn't the right solution?!

It's second only to the demands of nurses 5% + inflation (currently 17%) - in what world, and under whose mathematics or logic, does that stack up as fair and affordable?!

“I don't believe those providing critical services should be allowed to strike - they shouldn't be allowed to put vulnerable people nor the country at risk (yes that means they need other ways of having their voice heard)“

But the nurses are doing this BECAUSE vulnerable are ALREADY at risk. Poor pay has led to poor retention and recruitment of staff and therefore less nurses available to care for you. Staff to patient ratios are now unsafe and getting worse.

Many thanks for clarifying however I understood the reason why.

The police and army are constrained from striking to ensure the Government isn't overthrown, defend the country and maintain law & order.

Oh here we go, resorting to personal attacks. Doing so is normally a sign of having run out of other options in a debate.

Ps. Just because someone has a different opinion that you disagree with, doesn't mean they lack empathy nor compassion.

To illustrate my point, to continue with your line of thinking, I could (if I were to be childish) say:

where's your compassion and empathy for the little old lady to whom the ambulance won't arrive?

Where's your empathy and compassion for the patient whose had their long awaited operation cancelled?

Where's your empathy and compassion for the family that won't get to see their loved ones this Christmas due to travel distribution?

Or don't they matter to you...?

Get my point?

@Emotionalsupportviper

No, don't believe they strike as a first resort, I just just think it should be an option of last resort either.

I don't understand why it's such a hard to grasp concept? Not why it's somehow so horrendous to want to protect the vulnerable in our country?

I mean, it's not like it's not an already accepted concept: police and army are already not allowed to strike 🤷‍♀️

If society can accept it's a bad idea for such services to strike, why not NHS, ambulance, power infrastructure etc?

What's the fundamental difference?

@ExpectMore

You can hold whatever opinion you want. Maybe work on empathy and compassion while recognising your privilege.

I hate this government. Everything they do is designed to put more money in the pockets of their rich friends.

@Miajk you're the mug missing my fundamental point.

That's that I've no issues with strikes in general, no issues with unions in general, no issues with public (or private) sector working getting paid a fair salary or having good conditions (I mean, that's obvious right?!), my issue is:

1. I don't believe those providing critical services should be allowed to strike - they shouldn't be allowed to put vulnerable people nor the country at risk (yes that means they need other ways of having their voice heard)
2. (again, an obvious point but I feel it gets missed) the £s have to stack up, books have to balance

Your points re. test and trace are all bogus red herrings. They make easy emotive cannon fodder but are baseless. I'm assuming of course you'd have a risk free approach to rapid procurements in times of need...

So someone can only have an opinion on something if it affects them directly?

What a load of rubbish. I think we'd need a drastic overhaul of our electoral system and democratic principles if it were the case as that's not how they're currently structured... thankfully!

Right. I feel this couldn’t happen as easily in somewhere like France but British residents just accept all of this with barely a whisper. I really wish the next GE was 2023. Labour aren’t great but better than this lot.

I bet you enjoy having all the benefits you have thanks to unions. Paid holiday, parental leave, minimum wage, weekends, cap on working hours.

Somehow you benefitting is fine. You're lucky there weren't too many people like you back then and maybe you should sit and reflect for a minute on how your privilege was able to exist despite people like you.

Don't forget they have money for bogus test and trace, dodgy contracts for their pals, giving themselves payrises and not charging companies like Amazon nearly enough in tax.

You're the mug gladly financing this via your taxes but a liveable wage for crucial workers is somehow too much?

Of course it matters. It's very easy to say public sector workers should cope with low pay and poor conditions when you're not actually one yourself.
It's breathtakingly arrogant.

I don't see why it matters - the value of one's opinion shouldn't be based upon the sector one works in.

But as you're interested, and I don't mind sharing: I work for a private company that works in the supply chain of a public sector body.

@ExpectMore

Are you a public sector worker?

Any Govt that truly cared about the NHS wouldn't scrap nurse and AHP bursaries and if they did, after seeing the harm this had made, they'd reverse the policy.

Even Hunt, as a back bencher, said midwifery was a disaster.. now in Govt, he is doing nothing, nothing at all.... no plan.

We all have read or been personally affected by maternity scandals but nothing done... why? Tories been in for 12 years but they can try and get emergency laws in to stop strikes...