NHS Logistics battle
WORKERS, OCT 2006 ISSUE
The provocative decision by the government to privatise NHS Logistics, the hugely successful and income generating NHS in-house agency has, in the face of government refusal to reconsider, resulted in industrial action in September.
The contract has been handed over to the German DHL distribution company with significant US private medical backers. Two strike days were called: 21 and 27 September – the latter to coincide with Blair's swansong at the Labour Party conference.
The ballot – resulting in a 72 per cent Yes vote among Unison members – is seen as members willing to resist privatisation. But the TGWU vote not to support the action is ignored. Ignored is trade union density in NHS Logistics. Ignored also is that days before the Unison ballot recruitment leaflets in Polish were being circulated to desperately recruit Polish staff.
What appears to be a straightforward fight over privatisation should be setting alarm bells ringing in the trade unions, especially Unison. The dispute almost mirrors a dispute in 1999 at University College Hospital London, which was ruled as political and hence illegal by the House of Lords. Are the government and employers luring Unison into a trap?
Unison's other strategy, to seek a judicial review over the contract allocation and failure to consult, has been quietly dumped. Other than having a strike on the day Blair speaks there is no apparent strategy.
A set piece battle is being enacted, but the initiative is coming from the employers. It must come from the unions.