{"id":1513,"date":"2014-08-07T17:48:59","date_gmt":"2014-08-07T16:48:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bsb.lasunison.com\/?p=1513"},"modified":"2014-08-09T17:58:53","modified_gmt":"2014-08-09T16:58:53","slug":"vote-yes-for-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/?p=1513","title":{"rendered":"Vote Yes For Action!"},"content":{"rendered":"

My last two blog posts in April and June\u00c2\u00a0(Pay! We are worth it!<\/em> and Missing In Action<\/em>)\u00c2\u00a0have both\u00c2\u00a0dealt with pay. I have written about the looming dispute that has been building up against the Government over\u00c2\u00a0the divisive, unfair\u00c2\u00a0pay policy it has\u00c2\u00a0towards health workers. I have tried to explain why we are where we are.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brace yourself! We are now at the business end! We are entering a national pay dispute.<\/strong><\/p>\n

By 2017 ambulance staff, along with other health workers,\u00c2\u00a0will have had six years worth of pay cuts in real terms. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The Coalition Government has already ‘stood down’ the Pay Review Body (PRB) for the 2015\/16 pay round. <\/strong><\/p>\n

That can only mean one thing: another two years of pay cuts for us.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Part of it is so that they can pay off a national debt, not caused by health workers, but by their friends in the banking industry as well as\u00c2\u00a0speculators and wealthy opportunists in this country and abroad.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Have you had enough of this?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Pay Review Body (PRB) recommended a 1% pay increase for everyone this year. Not a king’s ransom in itself, but it would have been incorporated and consolidated in pay packets and uplifted basic pay, overtime pay, unsocial hour pay etc as well as counting towards pensions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The decision by the Government to ignore the PRB and impose a 1% (unconsolidated) increase only to those members of staff at the top of their pay band is disgusting and deplorable. <\/strong><\/p>\n

It is divisive in the extreme. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Even if you qualify for the 1% this year it will not increase your hourly rate so your overtime or unsocial hour payments will not increase. It will also not add anything to your pension.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Staff who don’t qualify get nothing! Zero! Zilch!\u00c2\u00a0We believe that nearly\u00c2\u00a0two thirds of staff will get nothing!<\/strong><\/p>\n

That cannot be fair!\u00c2\u00a0It isnt fair!<\/strong><\/p>\n

UNISON is\u00c2\u00a0going to challenge this. Enough is enough.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We need your help!<\/strong><\/p>\n

UNISON will be sending out a national\u00c2\u00a0pay ballot to all\u00c2\u00a0 members\u00c2\u00a0from 28th August 2014. Please look out for it, open it, vote YES and return it. The ballot will close on 18th September 2014. There is plenty of time to vote. <\/strong><\/p>\n

There will be two questions on the ballot paper. One about taking strike action and the other about taking action short of a strike.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are asking you to vote YES to both questions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Voting YES to both questions gives the union the flexibility and legal protection to plan a sustained mixed campaign of action that will be designed to involve as many members as possible, causing maximum planning difficulties with the minimum impact on patients.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is not against the London Ambulance Service. Not against patients. Not against the people of London.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But it\u00c2\u00a0is against a Government that treats the NHS and health workers with complete contempt. A Government that wants a race to the bottom in pay, services and professionalism.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Patients support us. The public support us. They know we are worth it. We stand up for them and now they stand up for us!<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you feel angry about this, tell the Government by voting YES in the ballot. Tell your work colleagues to vote YES also.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you want a fair ‘climb to the top’ in your profession and not a\u00c2\u00a0divisive\u00c2\u00a0‘race to the bottom’ vote YES.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A big turnout with a big YES vote makes us stronger.<\/strong><\/p>\n

More information will be sent out soon.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Support your Union.\u00c2\u00a0Support the NHS. Defend Agenda for Change.<\/strong><\/p>\n

VOTE YES! We are Worth It!<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you are not in the Union – Join!<\/strong><\/p>\n

____________________<\/strong><\/p>\n

Information on all issues can be found elsewhere on our website.<\/strong><\/p>\n

___________________<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you are reading this, work for the London Ambulance Service or are eligible to join, and are not yet a member of UNISON Join Today!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0 <\/strong>I Am Frontline You Are Frontline We Are All Frontline<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are stronger together. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Eric Roberts<\/strong><\/p>\n

Branch Secretary.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

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My last two blog posts in April and June\u00c2\u00a0(Pay! We are worth it! and Missing In Action)\u00c2\u00a0have both\u00c2\u00a0dealt with pay. I have written about the looming dispute that has been building up against the Government over\u00c2\u00a0the divisive, unfair\u00c2\u00a0pay policy it has\u00c2\u00a0towards health workers. I have tried to explain why we…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":895,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1513"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1530,"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1513\/revisions\/1530"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ericsblog.lasunison.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}