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It’s a year on from then, and NHS nurses are getting another insulting, kick-in-the-teeth, below-inflation pay offer. 2.75% this year, followed by 2.4% next year and 2.25% the year after. All this in the background of rising food and fuel costs, rising council taxes and more and more difficulty in obtaining credit. Still, the newly-militant RCN will be ready to take the fight to the government and deliver a boot to their collective knackers, right?
Oh. Sadly it looks like the RCN has suddenly reverted back to its previous position in relation to the government, which was roughly the kind of position adopted by a half-starved Thai hooker in relation to a fat, sweaty Western businessman.
Let’s compare the responses of the various unions to the current pay offer:
Unions that have told the government to take their deal and shove it up their arses:
Unite, GMB, Royal College of Midwives
Unions that are balloting its members, but are equally likely to tell them to shove it:
Unison
Unions that are telling their members what a wonderful proposal it is, and they should all vote yes to it and then close their eyes, open their mouths and prepare to swallow:
Royal College of Nursing
Well, fuck this. I’ve been a loyal RCN member since I started my nurse training, but I’m not willing to pay union dues if they’re not willing to stand up and fight. I’m voting with my feet, changing to a different union and taking my ball with me.
Now, whether to join Unison or Unite? Choices, choices…
I rejoined Unison last year because of the hoohah with the private firm taking over the contract for housekeeping.Had been a member back in 90’s as a local government employee.Can’t say anything good or bad about them tbh.Just paying them like an insurance policy really.
I took out RCN membership in 1st year and then forgot to renew it. Shocking – I know. I am considering Unite before I go out on placement again this time.
i’ve had a fairly bad experience with unison (union rep completely ignored my e-mails and phone calls when i wanted representation, local branch completely unwilling to pull said union rep up on this & kick their arse into gear). i work in the charity sector these days so i don’t have a choice about which union i can join – it’s unison or nothing, and at the moment it’s nothing. i will probably join again at some point though, just because it’s sensible, and i live somewhere different now so maybe my new local branch won’t be so completely crap.
as a form of protest though, it would make me happy if i thought the above had persuaded you in any way against giving unison a proportion of your hard-earned salary
)
Also, Unite are slightly cheaper than Unison, though both are cheaper than RCN.
So far I’m starting to lean towards joining Unite.
I decided to join Unite today. Another 2 fingers (although absolutely tiny) to the RCN . (And Unison, if it helps survivor worker!)
Unite/Amacus/MHNA?!
…or even Amicus
Nursing has morphed from a noble art which required a bit of training to an evidence based pseudo science for which you need to be educated. The fact you`re more likely to be paid if you`re in training was forgotten. The RCN persuaded itself that this was a price worth paying as education = professional status = a salary commensurate with professional staus. Nice fantasy.
Those of us who elected to stay acquainted with the real world could see, quite clearly, that 500,000 registered nurses x generous pay rise = bankruptcy for the NHS. That would have been the case on a good day. The “good” days have gone. To put it bluntly this government doesn`t have two spare ha`pennies to scratch it`s arse with.
Now with nurses doing a years access course and 3 year Diploma or 4 year degree courses coming into the job with horrendous debts the situation is bleak. The RCN may be a bag of shit but if you think Unison is the answer, you`re deluded.
Z- Unison may be balloting, with the pretence of neutrality, but they are basically telling members that they should vote Yes and that if we vote No we will definitely have to be prepared to strike and will ultimately be worse off. The literature that has come with the ballot paper is thinly disguised as ‘this is your choice’ but it is clear that Union leaders want us to accept the deal.
At least the RCN are being honest!
As things stand, I’ve made my decision. I’ve cancelled my direct debit to the RCN and set up a new one for Unite. Apart from anything else, they’re the cheapest of the three.
The RCN is not and never has been a union. It’s not affiliated to the TUC. It’s a professional organisation.
As for the UNISON/Unite comments – well, no union is better than the effort members are prepared to make. They’re not breakdown organisations. You don’t pay your subs every month and demand assistance when you have a problem. They’re COLLECTIVE organisations, with COLLECTIVE responsibility. Stewards aren’t paid for being stewards, they do it in their own time, on top of their own work, for no money, because they belive it’s important.
If you’re not happy with the service you get from your union, get elected as a steward yourself and do better.
I *am* an RCN steward, thank you very much. Or at least I was until a fortnight ago when I quit RCN and joined Unite.
And although RCN may not be in the TUC, it still carries out the functions of a trade union as well as that of a professional organisation.
It would appear that Dr Crippen is with us on this front:
“Heaven forbid that they should pay nurses more for doing their job well. . . . I could not believe that the RCN accepted the recent derisory “shut up until after the next general election” pay offer from the government. Madness. Utter madness. God knows, Mental Nurse and I do not seem to agree on much these days, but we do on this”
I have been in the RCN since my student days and still am, yet whinge about their lack of action weekly. Time to move methinks
Many NHS staff are also angry about pay: Zarathustra on mentalnurse.org.uk is considering quitting the Royal College of Nursing over their recommendation members accept an “insulting” three-year pay deal. One doctor looked enviously at striking tanker drivers, pointing out their relative wealth compared to speciality registrars.
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/jo....._happ.html
Unions sign up to three-year deal
* Published: 20 June 2008 11:19
The first year of the three-year 8% pay deal for nurses and non-medical NHS staff was officially accepted by all but one of the NHS unions yesterday.
http://www.nursingtimes.net/ne....._deal.html
We’re in the Guardian again? Wooo!