Right to Strike

I know I may be alone on this one, but there’s a big part of me that loves a strike. While everyone has been complaining over the past few weeks about trains being cancelled and spoiling Christmas plans, or nurses compromising patient care to demand more money and support, I have been thinking good on 'em! It’s not just about the right to strike, sometimes it’s right to strike - and I think we should do more of it.

Why should nurses be expected to carry the (physical and emotional) burden of an inadequately funded healthcare system for an inadequate salary? Why should train workers be expected to keep on getting us from A to B exactly when we want them to, when their wages aren’t keeping up with inflation? Would all the middle class businessmen we hear complaining about the strikes carry on working hard if their salaries weren’t growing and making them richer every year? Errr, no, I don’t think so - in the corporate world pay reviews are constantly being requested (by men anyway, but that’s a different rant for another day) and when demands aren’t satisfactorily met the headhunter quickly gets a call.

So yes, I wish we would strike more (UK nurses certainly should have done it a long time ago, they would have done a service to the health system by not allowing the government to let funding to fall so far behind what is needed). When we accept what we should not accept, even when with the absolute best and most caring intentions, we send a message that things can continue as they are. When we speak up, when we stand up, when we strike, we demand and drive necessary change.

Which brings me to gender equality. Did you know that on 24 October 1975, Icelandic women went on strike for the day to demonstrate the indispensable and under-valued work that women do. It was a day that changed the way women were seen in Iceland and put the country at the forefront of driving equality for women.

So here’s a thought as we start this new year of 2023: Serious gender equality progress please, or we’re calling a strike. But it won’t be in October - let’s see how next year’s Christmas holidays go if women down tools…