To be in a union but not out on strike tomorrow?

[ILovePud]

I'm an NHS clinician and my union has called a strike tomorrow. Strikes have not usually been well supported in my work place and I already had a clinic booked tomorrow. We all had to notify our management last week whether we would be striking and I said no. I felt uncomfortable with the idea of having to contact specific patients and cancel their appointments in a way that I wouldn't have done if it was a case of just omitting to book that clinic. I've become increasingly uncomfortable with this decision over the weekend as I've had some contact with colleagues and it seems that many of them will be striking and that there will be a picket line. I'll have to go in now and feel like I'm in a lose lose situation where I'm either letting down patients or letting down my colleagues. My colleagues are lovely people and none of them are going to have a go at me though there may be some more subtle guilt tripping. The strike's been called over the 1% pay rise offer rather than wider issues and whilst I think this is a crap offer compared with some of the other service issues in the local NHS at the moment this seems like small potatoes, for me at least. My reasons for being a union member have always been more about having access to support in the event of potential employment problems rather than collective bargaining, though obviously if they pay offer gets upped I'll feel the benefit of this along with everyone else and I do feel a bit bad about that. Am I being unreasonable to not be striking?

No, it isn't. It's part of the plan to dismantle the NHS.

Thank you so much to the people who have tried to see where I am coming from, it means a lot. I know this is AIBU and I am fine with being told I am, as I've made clear I feel very uncomfortable with my decision but have tried to do the right thing on balance, with more notice I would have gone out but I can't justify postponing those patients' treatments at such short notice, they are in the main people who I know to be very vulnerable and unwell. Those of you who have called me a scab and selfish are just behaving like bullies, there's just no need to be abusive.

Yabu.

Emergency and urgent care is being covered. So only routine stuff such as your clinic is being cancelled. Your clinic could have been rebooked.

I hope you leave the union if you can't support others.

I would rather my appointment be cancelled and know my practitioner cares about the future of the national health service. I can understand why you have done it but I don't agree with you. I hope you donate your pay for that time to the strike fund and think about changing to a non-striking union.

YABU OP. People are not being abusive calling you a scab. That is what you are!! I take it, you will not take any payrise won as you haven't supported the union or the strike!!

This makes me really angry. I bet you have complained about pay and conditions. Others have got the bottle to do something about it and you will be happy to real the benefits later.
I'm also sure that if you had a false alergation against you , you would expect the union to back you.

I would not be happy if you were my colleague

The ops decision to strike or not is not part of the plan to dismantle the nhs. unless you think the government have got to her?

op I do hope that if the strike is successful you do not reap the rewards.
but bet you do

YABVVVU!!!!
The Unison told us bloody weeks ago that we were having short action strikes on the 13th. There was plenty of time to rearrange clinics etc. so that it would have minimal impact on patients.
How bloody dare you hide behind the excuse of 'caring for patients' rather then just admitting to being too disorganised and too embarrassed to contact patients.

I care for my patients too as well as my colleagues and family. That is why I am doing this.

YABU but I have sympathy for your predicament and you sound sincere in your reasoning. Unfortunately it is better to have the short term pain for patients rather than the long term pain of a privatised NHS run on a shoestring by resentful, underpaid staff. That is worse for everyone, not just tomorrow's patients.

If union members do not support collective action, the union is ineffective.

This is the crux of the matter. The whole purpose of the strike is it's unpleasant, it's shit, people get let down, appointments have to be cancelled. It's one day, not a week, and it's supposed to cause maximum disruption. God knows it takes months of notice now before one so plenty of arrangements can be made which sort of defeats the entire process IMO.

I don't agree with the scab calling on here but you are being a bit of a Martyr.

OP, if I had an appointment that meant I had to cross a picket line, I'd postpone it. You may find that your patients have more scruples than you, and none turn up. Regardless, I can guarantee that that your striking colleagues will lose respect for you.

If OP had refused to join the union would reactions be different?

Id she refused to join the union, she wouldn't be posting here...

YABU! Fuck sake. You're a member, that means if called to you strike. It's what you sign up to when you join.
You can still go out on strike, maybe crossing a picket line will make you embarrassed enough to change your mind.

I mean - if OP was not a member - she'd still get any pay rise negotiated and the union would not have got her subs.

Fwiw we have just had our second day of striking called off because they have come back with a better offer, so there is a huge point behind striking.

I think non members are fairly crap to be honest but at least they are consistently crap. Joining then refusing to go out when called is a special kind of crap.

No, if she wasn't in a union she could do what she wanted. The whole point of a union is collective action - a vote is taken, and the majority decision prevails and union members, regardless of how they voted, act as one.

This is so hard. I wish we had more forums for discussing it within our work. You are both absolutely being u and not. i am really glad you are thinking about it. Personally I am striking and do think that more of us should but the question of safety to our patients is not clearcut as it should not just be about physical harm. I totally understand your decision but think we need to consider the need for standing up for the importance of the nhs overall.

gordys I'm confused by your post (I might be being dim!)
But the bit about there is no strike tomorrow?

No you are not dim I am incorrect - I was confusing it with th planned strike for Tuesday - sorry about that

I stand by the rest though

Anyone called scab yet?

As a non-union member she would get the benefit of pay-rises etc, but she wouldn't get the support of a union. So she would win in one sense but could end up losing out a great deal if she ended up in a conflict situation at work.

I know people who aren't union members and they are aware and willing to represent themselves in conflicts. I know a lot of union members dislike non-members as they think they get a lot for free, but personally I'm okay with it. That's where I think personal choice should be respected. I think when you are part of the union, then you partake in collective actions, no matter what your personal feelings are on the matter.