Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking at the UNISON health conference in Liverpool.
Among the many debates, Tory proposals to cut unsocial hours payments caused particular alarm. In response, conference gave an overwhelming ‘yes’ vote to an industrial action ballot if a future government tried to remove these payments.
Delegates spoke passionately about the impact of austerity on their finances and their lives, and how unsocial hours payments have become a lifeline for those struggling to make ends meet.
For most, working unsocial hours is not a choice: it is born out of necessity.
A third of NHS workers rely on these payments to supplement their incomes, and almost three-quarters admitted in a recent poll that they would not work at nights or weekends if the rates were cut.
If this were to happen, the cost to the NHS of employing agency staff alone would be enormous.
It is only fair that staff who work unsocial hours are rewarded for this extra effort.
If they are no longer able to earn more by working when most of us are either asleep or enjoying leisure time with family and friends, who could blame them for not offering to work nights and weekends anymore?
NHS staff have every right to fear the worst from the Tories. Their track record since 2010 has been nothing short of dismal, with relentless attacks on the living standards of NHS staff.
This latest onslaught is targeted at workers who sacrifice their weekends and nights to care for the sick and vulnerable.
It is clear that the Tories are committed to extending more NHS services across seven days, but it is also clear that they have no plans to fund it – staff will end up funding it through cuts to their pay.
UNISON is always willing to work with employers to improve the NHS by extending services – if that is based on the needs of patients.
Sadly, this latest cynical ploy to scrap unsocial hours payments is nothing but a cost-cutting exercise as part of the Conservatives’ continuing austerity agenda.