Readers write in support of industrial action over poor pay by public sector workers
I asked my daughter, a nurse who is 30 years in the job and working on a very busy geriatric ward, what going on strike meant for her. “I will arrive just before 7am, leave at 7.30pm, and take my full 30-minute unpaid meal break,” was the reply. In other words, she will put in the hours she is paid for, instead of arriving 30 minutes early, eating a sandwich while dealing with phones and paperwork, and leaving when she’s satisfied everything is running smoothly.
For the last two years, her annual leave has been taken in two- or three-day snatches, whenever staffing allowed. This year, she is determined to take proper, much-needed, week-long breaks. Steve Barclay et al will not be working on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. She will. I jokingly asked: “Short of cash?” “No, short of staff,” was her reply. For too long the NHS has relied on the goodwill of its staff. Now, they’ve had enough.
Maureen Tranter
Sheffield
