aibu to think midwives should not strike.

[ninjasuperted]

I totally understand that they have a point, and i don't blame them, but would they not have more LEGAL clout if they just stuck to their contracted hours, and didn't do unpaid overtime.

surely that way the nhs bosses would notice that more midwives were needed?

Oh Sassy it must be nice in your Ivory Tower.
My dept (not midwifery) would love the salary they were promised. Sadly a regrade slashed their salaries. I'm collecting their resignations and spending loads more on agency staff instead...

I totally support their strike although I cringe as to whats happening to women in labour right now..

When I had my first about 8 years ago MW were in crisis then and Labour, promised more MW, that never happened and instead even though Labour promised more MW what they actually did was open the borders to the EU and increased the work load for MW with extra births and now of course a baby boom on our hands with no extra money going to Maternity services.

When I had my baby, the MW I was chatting to said its a nightmare because girls who have done everything properly, booked in hospital and so on were turned away because many ladies were turning up, in labour, with no notes, and no English.

The extra work on the MW was horrific, blood tests and so on, interpreters called in, so much more work and cost and the lady in labour of course took priority. Our local hospitals of course have now failed and are being taken over and sadly in their wake they leave tragedy.

So I think MW have had a really awful deal and I support their strike and I also feel Tony Blair should personally apologise to them for over burdening and already cracking system.

I don't understand why anyone is striking, you knew full well when you applied for the job what was involved

Well the poor MW at my local hospital thought back then they were going to be proristed to get more resources, money and help and MW.

Instead they got more women giving birth, so they didn't know what they were signing up too, no.

I support them every step of the way.

How does it work if you have childcare and you can't leave when your shift is over? Is midwifery completely incompatible with a family of your own?

You beg borrow and pull in all the favours you can
you pay for childcare you don't need in case you need it
you use family (if you can)
you pay more for childcare than you earn
you and your husband do back to back work

he does all of the above so he can cover you

just some ideas

I can see why they and other NHS staff are striking, but I am very pissed off the military are being used. They can not strike. They haven't had a decent pay rise either. They are overworked, undervalued and have suffered cut after cut after cut. DS1 has spent over £500 on stuff he needed to get through basic training.

But it's okay, I'll just see even less of my DH!

I fully support the NHS workers who are striking today.

The insane amount of unpaid overtime is one thing but the government denying them the recommended 1% pay rise whilst awarding themselves 11% is vomit inducing.

Perhaps our NHS workers should click in and out? Maybe that way the government would see how many hours each individual is putting in.

When I had my second dc my community midwife, who had seen me throughout my pregnancy had to leave me just as I started to push.
I was heartbroken and begged this wonderful woman who had become my friend to stay with me to stay.
The woman that took over wouldn't let me go to the toilet and made me shit in front of my husband on the delivery table.
Of course they should strike.
Anyone that thinks they shouldn't is an arsehole Tory twat.

to answer the question about emergency im going to tell you a true story my friend was pregnant the baby stopped moving she saw a midwife the baby seemed to be in distress the local hospital was mostly closed with limited staff in due to norovirus the ambulance was called phone calls were made she was rushed in by the time she got there the staff had come in from wherever they had been because it was an emergency the surgery was opened and cleaned everyone was all hands on deck for an emergency cesarean baby needed emergency resuscitation and was rushed to another more specialised hospital that night the upshot is they are both here today because when it mattered the staff came i have no doubt if needed strike or no strike the staff would be there

this is why i support the NHS strike

SassySugarCane.....it sounds like you have little understanding about the world of work.
It is generally common practice for wages to rise in line with inflation or sometimes more. This is normally what happens in the word of work, otherwise you would have someone who started work say 20 years ago still on their miniscule staring salary while inflation has caused the cost of living to rise regardless.
In the last few years however many people both in the public and private sector have had their wages freeze due to austerity cuts and the recession. However for many people in the private sector more recently wage increases have been possible (not across the board, I appreciate). Meanwhile the public sector (including NHS) has had wages freeze for years despite inflation increasing, and in many cases people have had their wages actually cut, while working conditions have deteriorated sharply. Research shows that many people working in the NHS have to take two jobs to make ends meet - [[http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/20percent-of-nhs-workers-have-two-jobs/ar-BB8G4rc here]].
That is why people are striking.

also Sassysugarcane....'I don't understand why anyone is striking, you knew full well when you applied for the job what was involved'

no, actually...I didn't know I would be debanded and my wage cut, I didn't know that my now lower wage would be frozen, I didn't know that we would lose nearly 50% of our staff through redundancies and the posts not filled meaning we have to work overtime to cover it......

People knew what they were going to get paid? Well yes, they knew what their wage was when they got the job but I would imagine that people expected to get fair pay rises and not be worse off in real terms.

As an ex-NHS manager in both secondary and primary care, I fully support ALL NHS staff striking. As a Divisional Manager I had my budget cut 3 times in a year, had to deal with experienced staff demoralised, angry and demanding more resources that I couldn't give them. I had medical secretaries and ward clerks (some of the least valued and most overworked people in a hospital) resigning because they actually couldn't afford to work anymore and, once fuel/transport, childcare and other costs were taken into account they were spending more each month than they were getting. I had to constantly use my meagre budget on hiring agency staff because my nurses were so tired, stressed and overworked that the sickness levels were stratospheric. I lost 50% of staff in a year. As a fairly senior manager I can honestly say that yes, the senior management in the hospital know the problems, know how to provide solutions to those problems - but can't because they just have no money available.

It makes me so angry to read some of the comments in the media today about increments and pay rises - the top of the pay band is the numeration for the job, not the bottom. NHS staff spend years just getting to the point where they are paid the supposed going rate for the job.

It also makes me angry that people still think that the NHS is paid well. It's not. When I first joined the public sector about 20 years ago, it was a well known fact that the salary was way below what the private sector offered. For example, when I got my first junior management job in the NHS I was on less than £15K - I had just finished my PhD so certainly wasn't underqualified. People that I went to Uni with and who went into the private sector were on at least £25K starting salary. Nurses and midwives, paramedics, NHS administrators and (surprise, surprise) a good deal of NHS managers don't get this amount of money today.

Whilst I'm sorry for ranting and hijacking this thread, I think that it is important that as a nation we start to appreciate what we have in our NHS. If we don't now, then the chances are that by the time we do, it will be too late.

Oh, and as for my gold plated pension - well I'll only get one of those if I get a £1 for everytime I see/hear a comment about sacking managers!

All staff at every company both private and public sector should get inflation pay rises every year but nowadays so few do.

I haven't had a pay rise for 5 years in the private sector.

I fully understand how people in the private sector think 'well, we have it hard too' etc. I get this. I understand. It really is the lowest common denominator thinking though IE if I have it bad then no-one else should have it better. Gets us nowhere.
And this is the NHS we are talking about - life and death. Pay poorly and treat staff badly and we will get tired, under-qualified staff and, eventually, a shortage of people wanting to work in this sector.
I was in hospital for a couple of days last week - the night shift worked all night without even time for a brew - never mind a proper break. This is inhuman and it is dangerous. The NHS functions because they work for a pittance and over their paid hours. A civilised nation does not treat its public sector workers this way.
Fully support ANYONE who wants to strike, but especially those in the NHS.

The strike didn't affect anything urgent and it was for 4 hours. So we carried on with everything other than non urgent stuff. For example, elective sections were all booked for the afternoon, things like GTTs (which happen every week day) were cancelled, and scheduled for the following day. However, we'd still be doing things like obs, BF support, deliveries, emergency sections etc.

We were also told our pay would be docked if we went down to the picket line.

Milkwagon, it's all well and good saying we chose a profession where people come first. I fully agree. I love working with women, and I thank the universe every day that I do what I do. BUT it is scary as hell, I get treated like actual garbage some days. I put my heart and soul into looking after women and I (often) totally love them, but they don't always love me back. I also would like to be able to support my family and earn a reasonable wage.

And occasionally come home in time to put my DS to bed (or at the very least, get home at a time when I could eat rather than crash straight into bed). The other day, I did a 13 hour shift, drank half a can of coke and didn't have one wee (I didn't realise until I got home and noticed how dry I was!). I had a two day migraine after that. But it happened because I was looking after an amazing woman who needed my full attention.

Also, sassy, you DEFO do NOT know what you're getting into when you apply for the job. I had rose tinted specs of midwifery when I applied. I loved my training (3 years), thought I was basically doing the job I'd look after women and deal with emergency situations and then go home and feel worried but pop off to sleep.

But until you've been a qualified member of staff who is responsible for a woman with eclampsia, who continues to fit, on multiple, complicated drugs, and who you are legally responsible for, you have no clue. Now I lie awake at night going over EVERYTHING I do. Trying to remember if I've given everything appropriately, did I write everything down? Did I call for help early enough? Even when I look after low risk women I do this.

I'm currently waiting for the results of an HIV test because of a situation which happened when I'd stayed late after a shift to look after a woman and I got a facefull of blood (in eyes, mouth, up nose). It's scary. And you can't imagine how until it's you doing it.

I fail to see how a 1% payrise is going to help with the issues you mention.

It's the principle. They're saying we're worth nothing. Not even 1%.

If we sit back for (yet another) a year, and just accept nothing we're saying "Ahh, don't worry, that's cool, we don't mind, go ahead take 11%, we'll just chill with nothing"..

There's an interesting graphic somewhere which showed the difference between what a top band 6 earns and what they would be earning if our party had risen in line with inflation. The difference is interesting.

DH is a civil servant (research scientist) and broadly supportive of combating squeezes on public pay, but as he hasn't had a consolidated pay rise in over 10 years, he is quite unsympathetic in this instance. Our family income has effectively halved since 2003. Good thing he enjoys his job.

DH's hours and working pattern however do not look like a health worker's, so I feel personally pretty sympathetic to those who striked yesterday. I know how hard midwives and other health workers work. I'm just not sure it's a realistic action.

FishRabbit I wish you were all holding out for a bigger pay rise and only working your scheduled hours. If they give up their 11% payrise, that would be do-able I'm sure :)