AIBU to believe the public will be supportive of Nurses taking Strike Action ?
Nurses are being asked to vote YES to strike action by the biggest nurses union RCN
www.rcn.org.uk/Get-Involved/Campaign-with-us/Fair-Pay-for-Nursing/Latest-updates
AIBU?
Nurses taking Strike Action
shmiz · 01/10/2022 08:45
Am I being unreasonable?
524 votes. Final results.
POLLLapland123 · 30/11/2022 08:54
usernamealreadytaken
in theory if no one took up the agency work, there would be more money to pay for the normal job.... but in practice, that money is not on offer to boost the permanent roles. Instead there’s pay erosion of 20% for nurses, 35% for consultants.
no one is offering pay restoration, we all will have to strike for it.
the money saved by not using agency staff is not on offer to the staff to boost their normal jobs.
usernamealreadytaken · 30/11/2022 08:58
Thanks for actually taking time to consider the content of my post instead of just jumping and assuming I'm some nurse-hater - I'm waiting for a suitable apprenticeship so that I can join the ranks.
I totally get what you say, but surely it would be a good starting point for a negotiation.
Lapland123 · 30/11/2022 08:54
usernamealreadytaken
in theory if no one took up the agency work, there would be more money to pay for the normal job.... but in practice, that money is not on offer to boost the permanent roles. Instead there’s pay erosion of 20% for nurses, 35% for consultants.
no one is offering pay restoration, we all will have to strike for it.
the money saved by not using agency staff is not on offer to the staff to boost their normal jobs.
usernamealreadytaken · 30/11/2022 08:44
The nearly £17 an hour is the hourly wage for a salary of £32,934, and the "random" £27 is the £17 an hour with the Sunday shift uplift - like the random £42 an hour you quoted for "some shifts" - assuming these are the unsocial hours shifts.
If NHS staff worked on Sundays at £27 an hour instead of going to agencies to work for £42, they would be paid a decent wage and the NHS wouldn't have to cover staff with higher costing agency workers. There are posts on here from workers who deliberately work part time so that they can take up agency shifts to be paid more - it seems non-sensical because if they didn't work the agency shifts there would be more money to actually pay them a decent wage.
Nurses are humans; some nurses are absolute angels who care entirely about their work and patients, some are not - it's the same with any human.
TheLoupGarou · 29/11/2022 20:57
Sorry what?
I personally am 'bleeding the coffers dry' by occasionally working extra shifts, over and above my contracted hours in my permanent post, for a different trust?
Shifts that would otherwise be uncovered?
If I work for staff bank I get my own hourly rate - am not in England, so it is not "nearly £17" per hour and I don't know where you are randomly getting £27 from.
Gettaefuck
usernamealreadytaken · 29/11/2022 20:35
Surely as a top of band 5 earning nearly £17 an hr, you'd earn up to £27 an hr depending on the shift, for the same job. Perhaps if more nurses actually did their work for the NHS, then the NHS would have more money to pay them as they wouldn't be paying agency wages? You're literally bleeding the coffers dry rather than working for your own employer 😢
TheLoupGarou · 26/11/2022 22:09
I'm an ED nurse. At top of band 5 I earn about £16 per hour. As an agency nurse in ED I can earn up to £42 per hr depending on the shift, for the same job. Yes, when I need extra money I do agency work, outside my own trust. Who wouldn't?
walkingonsunshinekat · 30/11/2022 09:03
Why would any worker agree to work for £15 LESS than they can get elsewhere?
Do you think "goodwill" pays the mortgage?
OT and extra pay don't count toward pension contributions, well, at least they never have in any role i've done, its contracted hours only.
My own view is 7 day working has contributed to the staffing crisis, who wants to work a w/e so they can have tuesday and wed off? kids at school, partner at work, friends at work.
walkingonsunshinekat · 30/11/2022 09:03
Why would any worker agree to work for £15 LESS than they can get elsewhere?
Do you think "goodwill" pays the mortgage?
OT and extra pay don't count toward pension contributions, well, at least they never have in any role i've done, its contracted hours only.
My own view is 7 day working has contributed to the staffing crisis, who wants to work a w/e so they can have tuesday and wed off? kids at school, partner at work, friends at work.
Pjsandhotchoc · 30/11/2022 09:54
Ok, thanks for your advice, that completely solves our problems. I’ll be sure to let every nurse on my ward know that if we just all work Sundays, there isn’t an issue!
I’m sure my ward manager will have no problem complying with this, as of course, she could put all 60 nurses on shift on a Sunday. Then we will all get our unsociable hours payments, hooray!
I don’t know why we haven’t thought of this before, silly nurses hey! Thanks again!
usernamealreadytaken · 30/11/2022 08:44
The nearly £17 an hour is the hourly wage for a salary of £32,934, and the "random" £27 is the £17 an hour with the Sunday shift uplift - like the random £42 an hour you quoted for "some shifts" - assuming these are the unsocial hours shifts.
If NHS staff worked on Sundays at £27 an hour instead of going to agencies to work for £42, they would be paid a decent wage and the NHS wouldn't have to cover staff with higher costing agency workers. There are posts on here from workers who deliberately work part time so that they can take up agency shifts to be paid more - it seems non-sensical because if they didn't work the agency shifts there would be more money to actually pay them a decent wage.
Nurses are humans; some nurses are absolute angels who care entirely about their work and patients, some are not - it's the same with any human.
TheLoupGarou · 29/11/2022 20:57
Sorry what?
I personally am 'bleeding the coffers dry' by occasionally working extra shifts, over and above my contracted hours in my permanent post, for a different trust?
Shifts that would otherwise be uncovered?
If I work for staff bank I get my own hourly rate - am not in England, so it is not "nearly £17" per hour and I don't know where you are randomly getting £27 from.
Gettaefuck
usernamealreadytaken · 29/11/2022 20:35
Surely as a top of band 5 earning nearly £17 an hr, you'd earn up to £27 an hr depending on the shift, for the same job. Perhaps if more nurses actually did their work for the NHS, then the NHS would have more money to pay them as they wouldn't be paying agency wages? You're literally bleeding the coffers dry rather than working for your own employer 😢
TheLoupGarou · 26/11/2022 22:09
I'm an ED nurse. At top of band 5 I earn about £16 per hour. As an agency nurse in ED I can earn up to £42 per hr depending on the shift, for the same job. Yes, when I need extra money I do agency work, outside my own trust. Who wouldn't?
usernamealreadytaken · 30/11/2022 10:10
Funnily enough 8pm-6am, Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays are all uplifted, as are wages in high cost living areas. If more than half a shift falls in unsocial hours, the full shift is paid at the uplifted rate. Doesn't sound too bad to me.
Pjsandhotchoc · 30/11/2022 09:54
Ok, thanks for your advice, that completely solves our problems. I’ll be sure to let every nurse on my ward know that if we just all work Sundays, there isn’t an issue!
I’m sure my ward manager will have no problem complying with this, as of course, she could put all 60 nurses on shift on a Sunday. Then we will all get our unsociable hours payments, hooray!
I don’t know why we haven’t thought of this before, silly nurses hey! Thanks again!
usernamealreadytaken · 30/11/2022 08:44
The nearly £17 an hour is the hourly wage for a salary of £32,934, and the "random" £27 is the £17 an hour with the Sunday shift uplift - like the random £42 an hour you quoted for "some shifts" - assuming these are the unsocial hours shifts.
If NHS staff worked on Sundays at £27 an hour instead of going to agencies to work for £42, they would be paid a decent wage and the NHS wouldn't have to cover staff with higher costing agency workers. There are posts on here from workers who deliberately work part time so that they can take up agency shifts to be paid more - it seems non-sensical because if they didn't work the agency shifts there would be more money to actually pay them a decent wage.
Nurses are humans; some nurses are absolute angels who care entirely about their work and patients, some are not - it's the same with any human.
TheLoupGarou · 29/11/2022 20:57
Sorry what?
I personally am 'bleeding the coffers dry' by occasionally working extra shifts, over and above my contracted hours in my permanent post, for a different trust?
Shifts that would otherwise be uncovered?
If I work for staff bank I get my own hourly rate - am not in England, so it is not "nearly £17" per hour and I don't know where you are randomly getting £27 from.
Gettaefuck
usernamealreadytaken · 29/11/2022 20:35
Surely as a top of band 5 earning nearly £17 an hr, you'd earn up to £27 an hr depending on the shift, for the same job. Perhaps if more nurses actually did their work for the NHS, then the NHS would have more money to pay them as they wouldn't be paying agency wages? You're literally bleeding the coffers dry rather than working for your own employer 😢
TheLoupGarou · 26/11/2022 22:09
I'm an ED nurse. At top of band 5 I earn about £16 per hour. As an agency nurse in ED I can earn up to £42 per hr depending on the shift, for the same job. Yes, when I need extra money I do agency work, outside my own trust. Who wouldn't?
prescribingmum · 30/11/2022 09:19
Do you not think these points haven’t been set out to the government? This isn’t something that has suddenly happened, a constant, ongoing decline has led us to a position where no one will fill a post so the pay on offer via agency goes up and up until someone finally takes it.
Unions have pointed this out to the government many times - they are choosing to ignore it because they don’t want a fully funded health service. They would prefer it collapses so they can say it wasn’t their fault.
NHS staff work many hours overtime for nothing on a daily basis; they work through their unpaid breaks and stay late for every shift they do. Working unsocial hours comes with the role and they take it. How much more goodwill do you expect towards the employers that refuse to pay them fairly? Why should they work for less and do it on a Sunday when they could be with their families?
usernamealreadytaken · 30/11/2022 08:58
Thanks for actually taking time to consider the content of my post instead of just jumping and assuming I'm some nurse-hater - I'm waiting for a suitable apprenticeship so that I can join the ranks.
I totally get what you say, but surely it would be a good starting point for a negotiation.
Lapland123 · 30/11/2022 08:54
usernamealreadytaken
in theory if no one took up the agency work, there would be more money to pay for the normal job.... but in practice, that money is not on offer to boost the permanent roles. Instead there’s pay erosion of 20% for nurses, 35% for consultants.
no one is offering pay restoration, we all will have to strike for it.
the money saved by not using agency staff is not on offer to the staff to boost their normal jobs.
walkinginsunshinekat · 30/11/2022 11:00
@usernamealreadytaken You clearly have no idea, believe the NHS is awash with money, nursing is a vocation, should be kept as a low paid job, bills pay themselves and that the 45k shortfall in nurses is imagined.
Oh and also think people should work weekends and bank holidays for fun.
usernamealreadytaken · 30/11/2022 10:50
You do know that the government gives the money to the NHS and it's the NHS which decides how to spend it?
The NHS has plenty enough money to pay nurses a decent wage, but instead decides to spend it on agency staff and lining the pockets of their friends who run agencies. Perhaps your anger is directed the wrong way.
prescribingmum · 30/11/2022 09:19
Do you not think these points haven’t been set out to the government? This isn’t something that has suddenly happened, a constant, ongoing decline has led us to a position where no one will fill a post so the pay on offer via agency goes up and up until someone finally takes it.
Unions have pointed this out to the government many times - they are choosing to ignore it because they don’t want a fully funded health service. They would prefer it collapses so they can say it wasn’t their fault.
NHS staff work many hours overtime for nothing on a daily basis; they work through their unpaid breaks and stay late for every shift they do. Working unsocial hours comes with the role and they take it. How much more goodwill do you expect towards the employers that refuse to pay them fairly? Why should they work for less and do it on a Sunday when they could be with their families?
usernamealreadytaken · 30/11/2022 08:58
Thanks for actually taking time to consider the content of my post instead of just jumping and assuming I'm some nurse-hater - I'm waiting for a suitable apprenticeship so that I can join the ranks.
I totally get what you say, but surely it would be a good starting point for a negotiation.
Lapland123 · 30/11/2022 08:54
usernamealreadytaken
in theory if no one took up the agency work, there would be more money to pay for the normal job.... but in practice, that money is not on offer to boost the permanent roles. Instead there’s pay erosion of 20% for nurses, 35% for consultants.
no one is offering pay restoration, we all will have to strike for it.
the money saved by not using agency staff is not on offer to the staff to boost their normal jobs.
usernamealreadytaken · 30/11/2022 11:30
The government gives the money to the NHS and it's the NHS which decides how to spend it. If the NHS can afford £42 to pay agency nurses to fill shifts, it can afford £42 to pay NHS nurses to fill shifts - it's really quite simple. The money is there, the will in the NHS is not; nothing to do with conspiracy theories about the government wanting to privatise the NHS - the NHS has the money already and is spending it, it's just being spent poorly.
walkinginsunshinekat · 30/11/2022 11:00
@usernamealreadytaken You clearly have no idea, believe the NHS is awash with money, nursing is a vocation, should be kept as a low paid job, bills pay themselves and that the 45k shortfall in nurses is imagined.
Oh and also think people should work weekends and bank holidays for fun.
KnittedCardi · 30/11/2022 11:33
If the NHS can afford £42 to pay agency nurses to fill shifts, it can afford £42 to pay NHS nurses to fill shifts - it's really quite simple
It's not that simple though. Paying a nurse directly £42 costs the NHS MORE, because you have the added costs of pensions and NI etc etc.
KnittedCardi · 30/11/2022 11:50
However, nurses don’t want to do agency shifts and earn £42/hr, they want fair pay with safe staffing levels. They want to be able to spend their shift giving patients the care they deserve and take a break to drink water and have some food. They want to be able to go home at a predictable time
Which I don't think anyone would argue with. However, how are we going to then man an NHS that's requires 24/7 care? Weekends have to be able to be fully manned (even on a temp basis to get the lists down), in order to get back to a functioning service. We can't continue to have theatres and equipment unavailable at weekends, or tests not available, or discharges delayed. It's all manpower, I know, but we have to sort it out somehow.
prescribingmum · 30/11/2022 11:38
Trusts are in increasing amounts of debt. They don’t have the money but they are borrowing it because they can’t safely have the ward open without staff - the alternative is the close. Wards are also being closed because there aren’t staff, operations cancelled, waiting lists growing.
But you keep telling yourself your own clueless theories…🤦🏻♀️
The money is there, the will in the NHS is not
After all the staff have done risking their lives in Covid, they still work through their unpaid lunch break, stay late at the end of every shift and continue to work. You clearly expect them to all just come and work for nothing everyday
usernamealreadytaken · 30/11/2022 11:30
The government gives the money to the NHS and it's the NHS which decides how to spend it. If the NHS can afford £42 to pay agency nurses to fill shifts, it can afford £42 to pay NHS nurses to fill shifts - it's really quite simple. The money is there, the will in the NHS is not; nothing to do with conspiracy theories about the government wanting to privatise the NHS - the NHS has the money already and is spending it, it's just being spent poorly.
walkinginsunshinekat · 30/11/2022 11:00
@usernamealreadytaken You clearly have no idea, believe the NHS is awash with money, nursing is a vocation, should be kept as a low paid job, bills pay themselves and that the 45k shortfall in nurses is imagined.
Oh and also think people should work weekends and bank holidays for fun.
usernamealreadytaken · 30/11/2022 11:57
You don't think the increasing amounts of debt are largely down to Labour's disastrous PFI debacle? Do you think Labour might do better next time, or are you happy to move from the frying pan in to the fire?
prescribingmum · 30/11/2022 11:38
Trusts are in increasing amounts of debt. They don’t have the money but they are borrowing it because they can’t safely have the ward open without staff - the alternative is the close. Wards are also being closed because there aren’t staff, operations cancelled, waiting lists growing.
But you keep telling yourself your own clueless theories…🤦🏻♀️
The money is there, the will in the NHS is not
After all the staff have done risking their lives in Covid, they still work through their unpaid lunch break, stay late at the end of every shift and continue to work. You clearly expect them to all just come and work for nothing everyday
usernamealreadytaken · 30/11/2022 11:30
The government gives the money to the NHS and it's the NHS which decides how to spend it. If the NHS can afford £42 to pay agency nurses to fill shifts, it can afford £42 to pay NHS nurses to fill shifts - it's really quite simple. The money is there, the will in the NHS is not; nothing to do with conspiracy theories about the government wanting to privatise the NHS - the NHS has the money already and is spending it, it's just being spent poorly.
walkinginsunshinekat · 30/11/2022 11:00
@usernamealreadytaken You clearly have no idea, believe the NHS is awash with money, nursing is a vocation, should be kept as a low paid job, bills pay themselves and that the 45k shortfall in nurses is imagined.
Oh and also think people should work weekends and bank holidays for fun.
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usernamealreadytaken · 30/11/2022 11:59
Millions of people worked throughout Covid, and died at similar rates to healthcare workers. Perhaps we should all get a 19% pay rise - wait and see how much more your weekly shop costs when shop workers are given a similar rise for risking their lives, and then see how much further that hard-fought for rise goes. Excessive pay rises drive inflation for everyone, and the poorest will suffer the most, probably putting more strain on healthcare services leading to nurses needing higher pay to cope with the additional workload...
prescribingmum · 30/11/2022 12:03
Now you’re changing the topic of conversation. This is about staff wages, not about all the other ridiculous ways the government waste billions of pounds.
The NHS is nothing without its staff and that is exactly where things are heading right now
usernamealreadytaken · 30/11/2022 11:57
You don't think the increasing amounts of debt are largely down to Labour's disastrous PFI debacle? Do you think Labour might do better next time, or are you happy to move from the frying pan in to the fire?
prescribingmum · 30/11/2022 11:38
Trusts are in increasing amounts of debt. They don’t have the money but they are borrowing it because they can’t safely have the ward open without staff - the alternative is the close. Wards are also being closed because there aren’t staff, operations cancelled, waiting lists growing.
But you keep telling yourself your own clueless theories…🤦🏻♀️
The money is there, the will in the NHS is not
After all the staff have done risking their lives in Covid, they still work through their unpaid lunch break, stay late at the end of every shift and continue to work. You clearly expect them to all just come and work for nothing everyday
usernamealreadytaken · 30/11/2022 11:30
The government gives the money to the NHS and it's the NHS which decides how to spend it. If the NHS can afford £42 to pay agency nurses to fill shifts, it can afford £42 to pay NHS nurses to fill shifts - it's really quite simple. The money is there, the will in the NHS is not; nothing to do with conspiracy theories about the government wanting to privatise the NHS - the NHS has the money already and is spending it, it's just being spent poorly.
walkinginsunshinekat · 30/11/2022 11:00
@usernamealreadytaken You clearly have no idea, believe the NHS is awash with money, nursing is a vocation, should be kept as a low paid job, bills pay themselves and that the 45k shortfall in nurses is imagined.
Oh and also think people should work weekends and bank holidays for fun.
usernamealreadytaken · 30/11/2022 10:10
Funnily enough 8pm-6am, Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays are all uplifted, as are wages in high cost living areas. If more than half a shift falls in unsocial hours, the full shift is paid at the uplifted rate. Doesn't sound too bad to me.
Pjsandhotchoc · 30/11/2022 09:54
Ok, thanks for your advice, that completely solves our problems. I’ll be sure to let every nurse on my ward know that if we just all work Sundays, there isn’t an issue!
I’m sure my ward manager will have no problem complying with this, as of course, she could put all 60 nurses on shift on a Sunday. Then we will all get our unsociable hours payments, hooray!
I don’t know why we haven’t thought of this before, silly nurses hey! Thanks again!
usernamealreadytaken · 30/11/2022 08:44
The nearly £17 an hour is the hourly wage for a salary of £32,934, and the "random" £27 is the £17 an hour with the Sunday shift uplift - like the random £42 an hour you quoted for "some shifts" - assuming these are the unsocial hours shifts.
If NHS staff worked on Sundays at £27 an hour instead of going to agencies to work for £42, they would be paid a decent wage and the NHS wouldn't have to cover staff with higher costing agency workers. There are posts on here from workers who deliberately work part time so that they can take up agency shifts to be paid more - it seems non-sensical because if they didn't work the agency shifts there would be more money to actually pay them a decent wage.
Nurses are humans; some nurses are absolute angels who care entirely about their work and patients, some are not - it's the same with any human.
TheLoupGarou · 29/11/2022 20:57
Sorry what?
I personally am 'bleeding the coffers dry' by occasionally working extra shifts, over and above my contracted hours in my permanent post, for a different trust?
Shifts that would otherwise be uncovered?
If I work for staff bank I get my own hourly rate - am not in England, so it is not "nearly £17" per hour and I don't know where you are randomly getting £27 from.
Gettaefuck
usernamealreadytaken · 29/11/2022 20:35
Surely as a top of band 5 earning nearly £17 an hr, you'd earn up to £27 an hr depending on the shift, for the same job. Perhaps if more nurses actually did their work for the NHS, then the NHS would have more money to pay them as they wouldn't be paying agency wages? You're literally bleeding the coffers dry rather than working for your own employer 😢
TheLoupGarou · 26/11/2022 22:09
I'm an ED nurse. At top of band 5 I earn about £16 per hour. As an agency nurse in ED I can earn up to £42 per hr depending on the shift, for the same job. Yes, when I need extra money I do agency work, outside my own trust. Who wouldn't?
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