Due on Strike day

[ceri1985]

Hi... I am due on 30th November, which is the day that this huge public sector strike is planned for :(
I know that there is only a small chance that DD will arrive on her due date, but if I go over, there is a chance that there will be further strikes.

I am having NHS midwife-led care. Does anyone know how this will be affected by the strike?

Thanks.

The midwives and nurses will not be going on strike.

nurses and midwives are not allowed to strike - that is why the get treated appalling ( biased as i am a nurse)

Thank you soooo much. I know its a bit selfish of me to be worried.
I'm now curious as to why nurses and midwives are not allowed to strike but fire brigades are... bizarre.
Thanks again :)

gluttom is right midwives are not allowed to strike as they have a duty of care.

The employer is always given enough notice to arrange alternative cover if staff do strike. Don't worry.

PS: I'd have thought nurses and midwives ARE allowed to strike but perhaps feel they shouldn't due to duty of care. I'd be very surprised if this was written into their contracts. I think they're allowed to be in a union and therefore have right to strike. Intrigued now.

The union - RCN does not allow striking. Historically, nurses have not been allowed to take industrial action, but a rule change in the mid 1990s permitted measures which do not harm patient care.

This effectively rules out an all-out strike, but does allow nurses to refuse to work overtime and do paperwork NHS trusts use to demonstrate that they have met targets.

The worst we can do is "work to rule" basically be a jobsworth who does not do any extras and walks out exactly at home time - time unpaid breaks which we never take and no do any extra jobs other than nursing/ midwifery care .

That's interesting gluttom. Does the same apply to the doctor unions?

At the moment the British Medical Association does not support strike action by its members due to the constraints of medical ethics.

You live and learn. I thought I had vague memories of nurses going on strike when I was a kid but I must be mistaken.

Nurses are allowed to strike but the main union, The Royal College of Nursing has a no-strike rule. This does not apply to other unions.
I wouldn't worry OP.