By Andy Ford, Unite NHS rep
Two thousand health workers on the Isle of Man are to be balloted for strike action after rejecting a 4% pay offer for 2021 from the Island’s government. Talks have dragged on and now the trade unions’ patience is running out.
All seven unions in Manx Care, which provides health services for the Isle of Man, representing nurses, radiographers, physiotherapists, support staff and biomedical scientists, have indicated that the pay offer is insufficient, and this includes the RCN who are coming closer and closer to ditching their traditional no-strike policy. This is despite the pay offer to Manx health staff being around double what was given to the NHS in England
Debbie Halsall of Unite is quoted as saying that a below inflation pay offer does not meet its members’ aspirations and the Prospect union has also said that most of its members are ready to strike.
An interesting fact about health services on the Isle of Man is that they include adult social care, as well as health services. Manx Care was set up in 2021 and covers the island’s hospital, primary care, district nursing, mental health services and adult social care. Even most care for the elderly is provided through the Manx government, although there are a few private nursing homes. Manx Care is the biggest employer on the island after the Isle of Man government itself.
One of Jeremy Corbyn’s best ideas was for a National Care Service to bring care of the elderly and disabled into the same system as the NHS – care that is free at the point of use and allocated on the basis of need and not ability to pay. The Isle of Man shows in practice that this is viable and affordable.
Unite, under new general secretary, Sharon Graham, has suggested using some of the union’s political fund to campaign for an NHS care service in Scotland, and if it was secured, to use this as a lever towards achieving the same in England.
As we all know, care of the elderly in England is an utter disgrace with a patchwork of for-profit private care homes, in the main under-paying their staff, while over-charging residents and their families, and yet often failing to meet basic standards of care. And our National Insurance has gone up this month – for this!
The Isle of Man provides an interesting window into what would be possible, given the political will.
