Who gets to fish for B.C. salmon in the future?
Mon, January 9, 2023
The West Coast’s commercial salmon fleet is clearly in the midst of transformative change.
Ottawa has shuttered approximately 60 per cent of B.C.’s commercial fisheries since 2021 and last month launched a licence buyback program to lure fish harvesters to exit the industry to protect plummeting salmon stocks.
What’s less evident is who will remain on the water with access to salmon as the federal government reshapes the industry that was once the backbone of the coast.
But many suspect large corporations and investors that never set boots on the deck of a fishing vessel will continue to prosper while independent harvesters and coastal communities languish.
A pattern of fishing licences and quota concentrated in the hands of large seafood processing companies is firmly entrenched in B.C., said Jim McIsaac, vice-president of the Canadian Independent Fish Harvesters' Federation.
If Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) fails to make policy changes as the salmon licences and total catch decline, fishing wealth will continue to slip away to urban areas and those with lots of capital.
“Salmon, from my point of view, is a public resource and should be managed for the benefit of the Canadian public,” said McIsaac. “But DFO is privatizing the resource and managing it for the benefit of investors and processors.”
On the Atlantic Coast, commercial licence holders are required to be present on a vessel and actually fish their catch, he added.
But on the West Coast, many commercial licences and quota — a set share of the allowable catch — are transferable and can be bought, sold and leased like a commodity.
Demand and speculation push the purchase price beyond the reach of independent fish harvesters — especially young ones without deep pockets — leading to the rise of an “investor class” of corporations, investors or retired fishermen.
“Instead of moving to a more community-based local fishery, which a lot of fisheries around the planet are doing to make them more sustainable,” McIsaac said.
The licence buyback program will probably contract and concentrate the commercial seine fishery most immediately, said Joy Thorkelson of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers' Union.
Seine vessels tend to be larger than other types of fishing boats and use nets drawn together into a "purse" to capture fish.
The largest salmon fishery, the seine sector takes about 50 per cent of the total harvest and is already dominated by the province’s largest fish processor, Canfisco, part of the Jim Pattison Group, Thorkelson said.
Independent fish harvesters who can’t afford to buy a licence often lease one from processors that also act as brokers or hubs for other owners looking to “rent” their licence, she added.
This gives processors access to the catch and control over price, creating a monopoly effect, she said.
It also allows processors to concentrate the onshore industry, further draining fishing wealth from B.C. communities, she said, pointing to Canfisco closing its northern canneries and exporting that work to Alaska.
In 2019, the House of Commons committee on fisheries and oceans (FOPO), issued a report to the government centred on fisheries and equity issues on the Pacific Coast.
The committee urged Ottawa to increase the transparency around licence and quota ownership and restrict foreign investors’ access. It also called on the government to find ways for young fishers to enter the industry along with measurable mechanisms to ensure the socio-economic benefits of fishing are fairer, particularly for active harvesters and coastal communities.
But there’s been little real change by DFO over the last two years as the commercial salmon sector has been hobbled by the widespread closures, McIsaac said.
“I’ve been following developments around those recommendations pretty closely,” he said.
“At best, DFO has given them window dressing.”
Thorkelson predicts most of the licence buybacks will involve “low-hanging fruit”: inactive licences bought cheap or inherited by people not involved in the industry or harvesters who have recently retired due to ongoing declines in the commercial salmon sector.
DFO can’t predict who will remain on the water as the licence retirements are voluntary, the ministry said in an email to Canada’s National Observer.
“Those licence holders that wish to remain in the fishery will be able to do so,” DFO said.
The ministry didn’t clarify when, how or if equitable distribution of fishing benefits, including quota or licences, is part of the plan for the fishery once the buyback process is complete in three years’ time.
The retirement program is one element of a commitment to transform the salmon fishery and DFO will monitor how the number of licences changes during the process, the department said.
“DFO will continue to work with commercial fishery interests to determine other changes that will support the conservation and rebuilding of salmon stocks and a more adaptable and economically viable commercial fishery,” the email said.
Beyond limiting costs of retiring a licence, it’s not evident that DFO has any objectives or criteria around the number of licences it hopes to retire from each industry sector, such as large corporations, independent harvesters or First Nations, said University of Guelph researcher Jennifer Silver, a specialist in fisheries management.
“There’s less clarity … about other factors in the decision-making that relate to a larger vision for who retains access to the resource and what that might mean for coastal or Indigenous communities,” Silver said.
Ottawa also needs to consider any potential implications associated with a public resource such as a licence and quota being owned by foreign investors, Silver said, adding it’s extremely difficult to determine the level of investment at play.
In one instance, FOPO heard testimony from Ecotrust Canada, a non-profit focused on revitalizing coastal communities, that it had traced a foreign company that owned 5.9 million pounds of quota. According to the group, that company’s director was the same overseas investor identified in news articles involving money laundering in casinos and real estate in Vancouver.
Those against implementing owner-operator regulations in B.C. similar to those on the Atlantic coast suggest it would be akin to trying to unscramble an egg, Silver said.
But policy that improves the profits from fishing and also ensures benefits for harvesters and communities are not mutually exclusive, she said.
“Policy can be designed to achieve a little of both,” Silver said.
“I don't know if that mix has been achieved in the Pacific region to the same extent that it has been pursued and achieved in the Atlantic region.”
Rochelle Baker / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada’s National Observer
Rochelle Baker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada's National Observer
Tuesday, January 10, 2023
Artificial Intelligence Will Be Critical For Renewable Energy Growth
Editor OilPrice.com
Mon, January 9, 2023
The digitalization of oil and gas has been well documented, with pretty much all energy majors adopting AI, machine learning, and other innovative technologies to improve their operations. But what role does artificial intelligence play in renewables? Just as in oil and gas, AI is being adopted for use in wind, solar, and other green energy projects to improve efficiency through greater automation. As energy firms look to digitalize their operations to a greater extent, AI will likely play a leading role in the energy transition of the future.
The use of AI can support numerous activities across the energy industry, for operations across all energy sources, from fossil fuels to renewables. The energy industry has adopted AI technology in recent years to support automated decision-making and aided decision-making. The first is when computer systems process information autonomously, without human input. This often means that tasks can be completed faster and more efficiently than when a human decision is required, as the machine can make an immediate change. However, some issues require greater human input to determine the correct response; in this case, aided decision-making can be useful. Machines can provide useful insights by providing data for workers to interpret and decide on the right actions to take in any given situation.
AI also plays a major role in prediction. The use of complex algorithms can help investors to determine the level of risk involved in a new green energy project, anticipate the energy production from different types of renewable sources in different conditions, and predict the energy demand at different times of the day in various locations. Technology providing constant monitoring and evaluation can help companies prevent failures or the need to halt operations, by anticipating potential challenges and responding to them immediately. For example, using machine learning weather models, historical datasets, and real-time local weather information can help companies to predict when a storm or heatwave is going to hit to adapt their operations to prepare for the change in weather.
Related: Black Sea Shipping Rates Jump 20%
With digitalization becoming commonplace, energy firms are now using AI technologies in their day-to-day operations, and this type of equipment will almost certainly be key to transforming the future of energy. One of the main ways in which AI will support an effective transition away from fossil fuels to greener alternatives is through grid management. AI and machine learning use data analytics to estimate the level of energy consumption across households in any given area. It considers a variety of factors such as time of year, peak and off-peak times, and weather conditions. This can help energy companies to be constantly aware of the likely electricity use in the coming days, manage the grid accordingly and avoid outages. Production can also be altered in response to usage predictions to meet demand and avoid waste.
The rollout of AI technology across different areas of energy operations can also significantly enhance maintenance practices. Machines can predict the need for maintenance to schedule a repair ahead of an outage, to avoid an unnecessary loss of power. Energy companies can prepare for maintenance and inform consumers, rather than be caught unexpectedly by something breaking, which would mean longer repair times and unexpected power cuts for customers.
When it comes to solar power, AI can be used to determine the best sites to construct solar farms, based on the hours of sunlight and intensity. It can also help operators to plan the layout of the site so that solar systems catch the most sunlight. Once operational, AI technology can be used for automated decision-making to control solar panels as they rotate toward the sunlight throughout the day.
Even J. Kvelland, the co-founder and COO of solar AI company Glint Solar, explained: “To us, it’s surprising how many very sophisticated solar developers are still using the old way of sourcing land: reactively waiting for someone to recommend a piece of land or guessing by looking at Google Earth.” He added, “Given how ambitious plans virtually all developers have, they increasingly must be proactive about site screening and we’re proud to finally offer them software for this important task.”
In terms of wind power, Danish renewable energy major Vestas Wind Systems has led the way in the digitalization of wind farms, using machine learning to constantly adapt and improve operations. On-site AI technology learns from the environment in real-time, mainly through trial and error, to create changes to enhance wind energy production.
Espen Mehlum, the head of the energy and materials program on benchmarking at the World Economic Forum stated, “You can use AI to both optimize the construction, siting and the operations of a wind farm, but more importantly, you can use AI to optimize across different systems, both when it comes to consumption but also production.” He added, “That’s where the huge untapped potential is for AI – we’re just scratching the surface and seeing the first use cases.”
The digitalization of the energy sector is well underway, with almost all oil and gas and renewables majors incorporating a wide range of innovative technologies into their operations, for greater efficiency and production stability. AI technologies allow energy companies to predict a range of scenarios, ensure a reliable energy output for consumers, support grid efficiency, and adapt to anticipated and real-time changes to establish optimal conditions for production.
By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com
Editor OilPrice.com
Mon, January 9, 2023
The digitalization of oil and gas has been well documented, with pretty much all energy majors adopting AI, machine learning, and other innovative technologies to improve their operations. But what role does artificial intelligence play in renewables? Just as in oil and gas, AI is being adopted for use in wind, solar, and other green energy projects to improve efficiency through greater automation. As energy firms look to digitalize their operations to a greater extent, AI will likely play a leading role in the energy transition of the future.
The use of AI can support numerous activities across the energy industry, for operations across all energy sources, from fossil fuels to renewables. The energy industry has adopted AI technology in recent years to support automated decision-making and aided decision-making. The first is when computer systems process information autonomously, without human input. This often means that tasks can be completed faster and more efficiently than when a human decision is required, as the machine can make an immediate change. However, some issues require greater human input to determine the correct response; in this case, aided decision-making can be useful. Machines can provide useful insights by providing data for workers to interpret and decide on the right actions to take in any given situation.
AI also plays a major role in prediction. The use of complex algorithms can help investors to determine the level of risk involved in a new green energy project, anticipate the energy production from different types of renewable sources in different conditions, and predict the energy demand at different times of the day in various locations. Technology providing constant monitoring and evaluation can help companies prevent failures or the need to halt operations, by anticipating potential challenges and responding to them immediately. For example, using machine learning weather models, historical datasets, and real-time local weather information can help companies to predict when a storm or heatwave is going to hit to adapt their operations to prepare for the change in weather.
Related: Black Sea Shipping Rates Jump 20%
With digitalization becoming commonplace, energy firms are now using AI technologies in their day-to-day operations, and this type of equipment will almost certainly be key to transforming the future of energy. One of the main ways in which AI will support an effective transition away from fossil fuels to greener alternatives is through grid management. AI and machine learning use data analytics to estimate the level of energy consumption across households in any given area. It considers a variety of factors such as time of year, peak and off-peak times, and weather conditions. This can help energy companies to be constantly aware of the likely electricity use in the coming days, manage the grid accordingly and avoid outages. Production can also be altered in response to usage predictions to meet demand and avoid waste.
The rollout of AI technology across different areas of energy operations can also significantly enhance maintenance practices. Machines can predict the need for maintenance to schedule a repair ahead of an outage, to avoid an unnecessary loss of power. Energy companies can prepare for maintenance and inform consumers, rather than be caught unexpectedly by something breaking, which would mean longer repair times and unexpected power cuts for customers.
When it comes to solar power, AI can be used to determine the best sites to construct solar farms, based on the hours of sunlight and intensity. It can also help operators to plan the layout of the site so that solar systems catch the most sunlight. Once operational, AI technology can be used for automated decision-making to control solar panels as they rotate toward the sunlight throughout the day.
Even J. Kvelland, the co-founder and COO of solar AI company Glint Solar, explained: “To us, it’s surprising how many very sophisticated solar developers are still using the old way of sourcing land: reactively waiting for someone to recommend a piece of land or guessing by looking at Google Earth.” He added, “Given how ambitious plans virtually all developers have, they increasingly must be proactive about site screening and we’re proud to finally offer them software for this important task.”
In terms of wind power, Danish renewable energy major Vestas Wind Systems has led the way in the digitalization of wind farms, using machine learning to constantly adapt and improve operations. On-site AI technology learns from the environment in real-time, mainly through trial and error, to create changes to enhance wind energy production.
Espen Mehlum, the head of the energy and materials program on benchmarking at the World Economic Forum stated, “You can use AI to both optimize the construction, siting and the operations of a wind farm, but more importantly, you can use AI to optimize across different systems, both when it comes to consumption but also production.” He added, “That’s where the huge untapped potential is for AI – we’re just scratching the surface and seeing the first use cases.”
The digitalization of the energy sector is well underway, with almost all oil and gas and renewables majors incorporating a wide range of innovative technologies into their operations, for greater efficiency and production stability. AI technologies allow energy companies to predict a range of scenarios, ensure a reliable energy output for consumers, support grid efficiency, and adapt to anticipated and real-time changes to establish optimal conditions for production.
By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com
NATO VS. USSR
The tank-killing armored vehicle that France is sending to Ukraine is 'a bit of an oddity,' but don't call it a tank
OPENING THE WAY FOR THE BRADLEY
Michael Peck
Sun, January 8, 2023 at 3:39 p.m. MST·5 min read
French soldiers in an AMX-10RC in Afghanistan's Surobi district in September 2010.JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images
France said on January 5 that it would send the AMX-10RC armored vehicle to Ukraine.
French and Ukrainian officials and others have referred to the AMX-10RC as a "light tank."
It doesn't quite qualify as a tank, but it will be a valuable addition to Ukraine's arsenal.
France's decision to send the AMX-10RC to Ukraine sparked pronouncements that the West is finally delivering tanks to Ukraine.
The "tank" vs. "armored vehicle" debate is a long and often contentious one, but AMX-10RCs are armored reconnaissance vehicles and not tanks, which usually have large-caliber main guns, heavy-duty armor, and tracks.
While the symbolism of delivering it to Kyiv is important, it remains to be seen how useful a thinly protected, 1970s-vintage armored vehicle will be on the battlefield in Ukraine.
That France and Ukraine have described the AMX-10RC as a "light tank" is significant. Despite Ukraine's pleas, the US and other countries have refused to send first-line tanks such as the M1 Abrams.
This has left Ukraine reliant on a motley collection of Soviet-designed tanks acquired before the war, Russian tanks captured in battle, or refurbished models provided by countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic.
A French Foreign Legion AMX-10RC during an exercise at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina in October 2017.US Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. Damarko Bones
The AMX-10RC is really a six-wheeled armored car. Designed in the early 1970s and first deployed by the French Army in 1979, it is a 16-ton vehicle capable of traveling 50 mph.
Its wheeled design means it can move fast on roads and smooth terrain — and requires less maintenance — than a heavy, tracked vehicle such as the 70-ton Abrams.
The AMX-10RC's thin armor protects against small arms and shrapnel but not large-caliber tank rounds or anti-tank missiles. While its manufacturer, Giat Industries, does offer an add-on kit with extra armor and missile countermeasures, the AMX-10RC is more suited for locating the enemy — and beating a hasty retreat if necessary — rather than going cannon-to-cannon with main battle tanks.
France operates 245 AMX-10RCs and has deployed the vehicle in Operation Desert Storm and in counterinsurgency operations in Africa. Morocco, Qatar, and Cameroon also operate the AMX-10RC, though the French military is replacing it with the Jaguar, a 25-ton armored scout vehicle armed with a 40 mm rapid-fire cannon and two anti-tank missiles.
Wheeled armored scout cars are not uncommon. Russia, for example, still uses the 1960s-era 7-ton BRDM-2, Japan the 15-ton Type 87, and the US the 19-ton M1127 Stryker scout variant.
French soldiers practice firing an AMX-10RC in Afghanistan's Surobi district in September 2010.JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images
But what's striking about the AMX-10RC — and perhaps why it's been called a "light tank" or "tank destroyer" — is that it packs a 105 mm cannon rather than the usual small cannon or heavy machine gun.
While smaller than the high-velocity 120 mm cannons found on main battle tanks, the AMX-10RC's gun is powerful enough to take out a tank at close range and would be deadly against lighter armored vehicles and infantry.
"The US Army was never very fond of" wheeled armored fighting vehicles, said Steven Zaloga, an author and expert on armored vehicles, who compared the AMX-10RC to the US's now-retired M551 Sheridan and M3 Bradley cavalry fighting vehicle, both of which have tracks.
The AMX-10RC also resembles the US's M1128 Mobile Gun System, the fire-support variant of the wheeled Stryker armed with a 105 mm gun, which the US Army has decided to discard.
The AMX-10RC is a "bit of an oddity," according to Olivier Schmitt, a professor at the University of Southern Denmark's Center for War Studies.
"It was conceived for recon and fire support, and, in the 1980s, was the heaviest armored vehicle assigned to the 'rapid action force'" set up by France to rush across Germany in response to a Soviet attack, Schmitt tweeted this week.
French troops back an AMX-10RC onto a ship in Toulon in June 1995.ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP via Getty Images
In other words, the AMX-10RC was designed to be part of a light mechanized force that rides to the rescue of NATO forces desperately defending against a Soviet blitzkrieg. That's not the situation in Ukraine now. Fighting there has become trench warfare, with incremental gains rather than sweeping armored offensives in which fast, armored scout vehicles excel.
Indeed, Ukraine has shown that modern reconnaissance relies on drones and satellites. Armored vehicles are still vital on the battlefield, but an armored car may have limited utility against swarms of anti-tank missiles, attack drones, and smart artillery shells.
Yet the military value of the AMX-10RC isn't really the point. What's important is that the West is sending armored fighting vehicles.
France's announcement was quickly followed by the US announcing that it would send M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and Germany announcing that it would send Marder infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine. Both vehicles are tracked and heavier than the AMX-10RC but have smaller main weapons, though they also carry anti-tank missiles.
Tank or not, if the AMX-10RC boosts Ukrainian morale — and reminds Russia that heavier Western armor may be coming — than it's a valuable weapon.
Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds a master's in political science. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Michael Peck
Sun, January 8, 2023 at 3:39 p.m. MST·5 min read
French soldiers in an AMX-10RC in Afghanistan's Surobi district in September 2010.JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images
France said on January 5 that it would send the AMX-10RC armored vehicle to Ukraine.
French and Ukrainian officials and others have referred to the AMX-10RC as a "light tank."
It doesn't quite qualify as a tank, but it will be a valuable addition to Ukraine's arsenal.
France's decision to send the AMX-10RC to Ukraine sparked pronouncements that the West is finally delivering tanks to Ukraine.
The "tank" vs. "armored vehicle" debate is a long and often contentious one, but AMX-10RCs are armored reconnaissance vehicles and not tanks, which usually have large-caliber main guns, heavy-duty armor, and tracks.
While the symbolism of delivering it to Kyiv is important, it remains to be seen how useful a thinly protected, 1970s-vintage armored vehicle will be on the battlefield in Ukraine.
That France and Ukraine have described the AMX-10RC as a "light tank" is significant. Despite Ukraine's pleas, the US and other countries have refused to send first-line tanks such as the M1 Abrams.
This has left Ukraine reliant on a motley collection of Soviet-designed tanks acquired before the war, Russian tanks captured in battle, or refurbished models provided by countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic.
A French Foreign Legion AMX-10RC during an exercise at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina in October 2017.US Marine Corps/Lance Cpl. Damarko Bones
The AMX-10RC is really a six-wheeled armored car. Designed in the early 1970s and first deployed by the French Army in 1979, it is a 16-ton vehicle capable of traveling 50 mph.
Its wheeled design means it can move fast on roads and smooth terrain — and requires less maintenance — than a heavy, tracked vehicle such as the 70-ton Abrams.
The AMX-10RC's thin armor protects against small arms and shrapnel but not large-caliber tank rounds or anti-tank missiles. While its manufacturer, Giat Industries, does offer an add-on kit with extra armor and missile countermeasures, the AMX-10RC is more suited for locating the enemy — and beating a hasty retreat if necessary — rather than going cannon-to-cannon with main battle tanks.
France operates 245 AMX-10RCs and has deployed the vehicle in Operation Desert Storm and in counterinsurgency operations in Africa. Morocco, Qatar, and Cameroon also operate the AMX-10RC, though the French military is replacing it with the Jaguar, a 25-ton armored scout vehicle armed with a 40 mm rapid-fire cannon and two anti-tank missiles.
Wheeled armored scout cars are not uncommon. Russia, for example, still uses the 1960s-era 7-ton BRDM-2, Japan the 15-ton Type 87, and the US the 19-ton M1127 Stryker scout variant.
French soldiers practice firing an AMX-10RC in Afghanistan's Surobi district in September 2010.JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images
But what's striking about the AMX-10RC — and perhaps why it's been called a "light tank" or "tank destroyer" — is that it packs a 105 mm cannon rather than the usual small cannon or heavy machine gun.
While smaller than the high-velocity 120 mm cannons found on main battle tanks, the AMX-10RC's gun is powerful enough to take out a tank at close range and would be deadly against lighter armored vehicles and infantry.
"The US Army was never very fond of" wheeled armored fighting vehicles, said Steven Zaloga, an author and expert on armored vehicles, who compared the AMX-10RC to the US's now-retired M551 Sheridan and M3 Bradley cavalry fighting vehicle, both of which have tracks.
The AMX-10RC also resembles the US's M1128 Mobile Gun System, the fire-support variant of the wheeled Stryker armed with a 105 mm gun, which the US Army has decided to discard.
The AMX-10RC is a "bit of an oddity," according to Olivier Schmitt, a professor at the University of Southern Denmark's Center for War Studies.
"It was conceived for recon and fire support, and, in the 1980s, was the heaviest armored vehicle assigned to the 'rapid action force'" set up by France to rush across Germany in response to a Soviet attack, Schmitt tweeted this week.
French troops back an AMX-10RC onto a ship in Toulon in June 1995.ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/AFP via Getty Images
In other words, the AMX-10RC was designed to be part of a light mechanized force that rides to the rescue of NATO forces desperately defending against a Soviet blitzkrieg. That's not the situation in Ukraine now. Fighting there has become trench warfare, with incremental gains rather than sweeping armored offensives in which fast, armored scout vehicles excel.
Indeed, Ukraine has shown that modern reconnaissance relies on drones and satellites. Armored vehicles are still vital on the battlefield, but an armored car may have limited utility against swarms of anti-tank missiles, attack drones, and smart artillery shells.
Yet the military value of the AMX-10RC isn't really the point. What's important is that the West is sending armored fighting vehicles.
France's announcement was quickly followed by the US announcing that it would send M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and Germany announcing that it would send Marder infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine. Both vehicles are tracked and heavier than the AMX-10RC but have smaller main weapons, though they also carry anti-tank missiles.
Tank or not, if the AMX-10RC boosts Ukrainian morale — and reminds Russia that heavier Western armor may be coming — than it's a valuable weapon.
Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds a master's in political science. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.
I’m homeless in California. And I have an easy, cost-free solution to homelessness | Opinion
Lydia Blumberg
Sun, January 8, 2023
Sacramento Bee
Renée C. Byer/rbyer@sacbee.com
I and my fellow residents of Wood Street Commons, an unhoused community in Oakland, believe politicians pushing sweeps of homeless encampments are only making things worse.
One thing that would dramatically improve the lives of unhoused people in California could be done today, wouldn’t cost taxpayers any money and would require no effort by politicians or city workers. It’s as simple as a governor or mayor uttering three words: Stop sweeps now.
Each time a homeless camp is dismantled, people’s lives are destroyed. All the effort we put into creating a home — we do not actually consider ourselves homeless because our camp is our home — is wiped away. Our worldly possessions, including identification, medical records, family heirlooms, clothing, electronics, furniture, instruments, bedding, tents, tools and other items that we use to earn income, are literally thrown into garbage trucks. Our handmade shelters are smashed by giant machines as we watch.
Opinion
How is this acceptable? How can the people who order and carry out sweeps live with themselves?
Each time a homeless camp is dismantled, its residents face more obstacles to overcoming what put them on the street in the first place. We create camps as a way to create stability, cultivate community, and accrue needed resources to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. Destroying camps pushes us down and forces us to start over, with nowhere to go and often with nothing but the clothes on our backs.
Any politician who pledges to end homelessness in one breath and then pledges to rid the streets of encampments in the next — looking at you, Gov. Gavin Newsom — is completely out of his mind.
The billions spent “helping” the homeless are profoundly undermined by the daily aggression of sweeps, which many unhoused people experience several times a year. Take it from us, the real experts on this issue: Sweeps make homelessness more entrenched.
Sweeps are also an enormous waste of taxpayer money. A 2021 sweep in Los Angeles’ Echo Park, where which roughly 200 people were removed in a violent show of police force, cost an estimated $2 million. That’s nearly $10,000 per person! These are people whose lives were destroyed at an expense that could have housed them for months.
Yet city leaders declared the Echo Park sweep a rousing success, claiming nearly everyone from the camp was placed in temporary housing. But UCLA studies conducted a year later found that only a dozen or so of them remained in temporary housing. Of the rest, four were placed in permanent housing; seven died; and most returned to the streets.
Large cities routinely sweep one or more camps per day, meaning this cruelty is repeated thousands of times each year across the state and country. Sweeps don’t get rid of camps; they just move them around, causing chaos and wasting millions in the process.
A growing body of research illustrates why we should not only keep camps intact; we should actually encourage and celebrate them. That may sound crazy to many readers, but it couldn’t be more logical.
First, the idea that camps equal crime is a myth that has been dispelled. Researchers have in fact found that clearing homeless camps is associated with an increase in overdoses, hospitalizations and mortality.
In a review of research on the topic, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development noted that emergency shelters are unavailable, inaccessible or inhospitable to many unhoused people.
“Encampments may be the best alternative among a limited set of options,” the HUD report said.
It’s important to consider why people choose camps over other alternatives. Most temporary shelter facilities, and many of the permanent housing options designed to house the unhoused, come with a long list of rules that make them a little too much like prison. Among the most common rules are those limiting guests, spouses, pets, cooking, decorations and more possessions than can fit in a suitcase.
Tiny homes and sheds — the latest trends — are often placed like barracks on asphalt lots, surrounded by barbed wire and staffed by rude security guards. Would you give up your freedom to move to one of these places?
Humans need more than food, water and shelter. Autonomy and a sense of belonging are equally important to survival — and are actually the keys to recovery for people who have had a hard time in life. The impersonal facilities that we’re asked to move into are not designed with this in mind.
But autonomy and belonging are the essence of what camps are about. We camp together because it is essential to our physical and mental survival.
Our community on Wood Street in Oakland has recently been subjected to devastating sweeps. Caltrans has cleared an enormous section of the camp.
But the part that remains is stronger than ever. We cook for each other, distribute clothing and bedding, build our own tiny homes, play music, help each other heal, and host cultural events that have been attended by hundreds of housed residents. We see ourselves as part of a movement redefining the identity of American cities for the better: an identity based on an ethos of interdependence rather than the cult of independence that defines the world of the housed.
The last bit of land that we occupy on Wood Street is slated for clearance on Monday. We’ve been trying to work with Oakland officials to find a place where we can set up a new community and begin to rebuild yet again, but they refuse to cooperate. The city loves to tell us where we can’t be but has yet to tell us where we can be.
We do not accept this, which is why we’re taking matters into our own hands. We recently rode our bikes to the Capitol in Sacramento to speak with lawmakers there, and we will continue to press the case at City Hall. We will not be denied the essential human right to exist and exert our free will.
This piece was authored by Lydia Blumberg and other residents of Wood Street Commons, a settlement of unconventionally housed residents in West Oakland founded on the idea of “homeless helping the homeless.”
Lydia Blumberg
Sun, January 8, 2023
Sacramento Bee
Renée C. Byer/rbyer@sacbee.com
I and my fellow residents of Wood Street Commons, an unhoused community in Oakland, believe politicians pushing sweeps of homeless encampments are only making things worse.
One thing that would dramatically improve the lives of unhoused people in California could be done today, wouldn’t cost taxpayers any money and would require no effort by politicians or city workers. It’s as simple as a governor or mayor uttering three words: Stop sweeps now.
Each time a homeless camp is dismantled, people’s lives are destroyed. All the effort we put into creating a home — we do not actually consider ourselves homeless because our camp is our home — is wiped away. Our worldly possessions, including identification, medical records, family heirlooms, clothing, electronics, furniture, instruments, bedding, tents, tools and other items that we use to earn income, are literally thrown into garbage trucks. Our handmade shelters are smashed by giant machines as we watch.
Opinion
How is this acceptable? How can the people who order and carry out sweeps live with themselves?
Each time a homeless camp is dismantled, its residents face more obstacles to overcoming what put them on the street in the first place. We create camps as a way to create stability, cultivate community, and accrue needed resources to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps. Destroying camps pushes us down and forces us to start over, with nowhere to go and often with nothing but the clothes on our backs.
Any politician who pledges to end homelessness in one breath and then pledges to rid the streets of encampments in the next — looking at you, Gov. Gavin Newsom — is completely out of his mind.
The billions spent “helping” the homeless are profoundly undermined by the daily aggression of sweeps, which many unhoused people experience several times a year. Take it from us, the real experts on this issue: Sweeps make homelessness more entrenched.
Sweeps are also an enormous waste of taxpayer money. A 2021 sweep in Los Angeles’ Echo Park, where which roughly 200 people were removed in a violent show of police force, cost an estimated $2 million. That’s nearly $10,000 per person! These are people whose lives were destroyed at an expense that could have housed them for months.
Yet city leaders declared the Echo Park sweep a rousing success, claiming nearly everyone from the camp was placed in temporary housing. But UCLA studies conducted a year later found that only a dozen or so of them remained in temporary housing. Of the rest, four were placed in permanent housing; seven died; and most returned to the streets.
Large cities routinely sweep one or more camps per day, meaning this cruelty is repeated thousands of times each year across the state and country. Sweeps don’t get rid of camps; they just move them around, causing chaos and wasting millions in the process.
A growing body of research illustrates why we should not only keep camps intact; we should actually encourage and celebrate them. That may sound crazy to many readers, but it couldn’t be more logical.
First, the idea that camps equal crime is a myth that has been dispelled. Researchers have in fact found that clearing homeless camps is associated with an increase in overdoses, hospitalizations and mortality.
In a review of research on the topic, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development noted that emergency shelters are unavailable, inaccessible or inhospitable to many unhoused people.
“Encampments may be the best alternative among a limited set of options,” the HUD report said.
It’s important to consider why people choose camps over other alternatives. Most temporary shelter facilities, and many of the permanent housing options designed to house the unhoused, come with a long list of rules that make them a little too much like prison. Among the most common rules are those limiting guests, spouses, pets, cooking, decorations and more possessions than can fit in a suitcase.
Tiny homes and sheds — the latest trends — are often placed like barracks on asphalt lots, surrounded by barbed wire and staffed by rude security guards. Would you give up your freedom to move to one of these places?
Humans need more than food, water and shelter. Autonomy and a sense of belonging are equally important to survival — and are actually the keys to recovery for people who have had a hard time in life. The impersonal facilities that we’re asked to move into are not designed with this in mind.
But autonomy and belonging are the essence of what camps are about. We camp together because it is essential to our physical and mental survival.
Our community on Wood Street in Oakland has recently been subjected to devastating sweeps. Caltrans has cleared an enormous section of the camp.
But the part that remains is stronger than ever. We cook for each other, distribute clothing and bedding, build our own tiny homes, play music, help each other heal, and host cultural events that have been attended by hundreds of housed residents. We see ourselves as part of a movement redefining the identity of American cities for the better: an identity based on an ethos of interdependence rather than the cult of independence that defines the world of the housed.
The last bit of land that we occupy on Wood Street is slated for clearance on Monday. We’ve been trying to work with Oakland officials to find a place where we can set up a new community and begin to rebuild yet again, but they refuse to cooperate. The city loves to tell us where we can’t be but has yet to tell us where we can be.
We do not accept this, which is why we’re taking matters into our own hands. We recently rode our bikes to the Capitol in Sacramento to speak with lawmakers there, and we will continue to press the case at City Hall. We will not be denied the essential human right to exist and exert our free will.
This piece was authored by Lydia Blumberg and other residents of Wood Street Commons, a settlement of unconventionally housed residents in West Oakland founded on the idea of “homeless helping the homeless.”
Republicans Signal Cuts To Social Security, Medicare With New House Majority
House Republicans are making clear that they intend to seek cuts to entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare with their new majority in the 118th Congress.
Their plans to target health care programs follow demands from a group of conservatives that helped elect House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) over the weekend. Those far-right lawmakers have sought across-the-board spending cuts in order to tackle the growing national debt.
But the narrow House GOP majority ― McCarthy can afford to lose just four votes on any bill ― is far more divided on cuts to defense spending than for entitlement programs.
“I’m all for a balanced budget, but we’re not going to do it on the backs of our troops and our military,” Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.), a former Army Green Beret, said Monday during an interview on Fox Business. “If we really want to talk about the debt and spending, it’s the entitlements programs.”
As part of his list of concessions to conservatives, McCarthy reportedly agreed to cap spending for the next year at fiscal 2022 levels, which would amount to over $130 billion in cuts from last month’s $1.7 trillion government funding bill.
Republicans don’t plan to alter benefits for current Social Security and Medicare recipients, according to Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas).
“What we have been very clear about is, we’re not going to touch the benefits that are going to people relying on the benefits under Social Security and Medicare,” Roy said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “But we all have to be honest about sitting at the table and figuring out how we’re going to make those work, how we’re going to deal with defense spending and how we’re going to deal with nondefense discretionary spending.”
The Republican Study Committee proposed a budget for fiscal 2023 that would gradually increase the eligibility ages for Social Security and Medicare, and change the Social Security benefit formula for people 54 and younger, while not changing it for people closer to receiving benefits.
Democrats are likely to oppose those changes, as well as any cuts to Social Security and Medicare, and an ensuing standoff could result in another government shutdown. The 2018-2019 lapse in federal funding lasted 35 days after a fight over former President Donald Trump’s border policies and immigration.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, warned last week that Republicans were “all but guaranteeing a shutdown” by demanding to cap spending at fiscal 2022 levels.
“These types of cuts would harm communities and families across the United States who are already struggling with inflation and the rising cost of living,” DeLauro said in a statement. “They put support for our Veterans, law enforcement, small businesses, and military families at risk.”
Arthur Delaney contributed reporting.
Here’s why defunding the IRS is the House GOP’s first priority
The House GOP's first bill out of the gate doesn’t address inflation or gas prices or immigration, but instead zeroes in on the Internal Revenue Service.
The bill set to be voted on Monday evening — barring a stalemate over approving the rules for the 118th Congress — would reverse much of the $80 billion in extra funding set aside for the agency by 2022's Inflation Reduction Act.
While it has little chance of being enacted with Democrats in control of the Senate, the prominence of the issue shows just how much the IRS has become a target of Republicans even though experts say the funds in question would go toward more prosaic concerns like helping the agency chase down tax cheats and refresh its shockingly outdated technology.
"Our first bill will repeal funding for 87,000 new IRS agents,” Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said Saturday, just moments after his victory. “Because the government should be here to help you, not go after you.”
‘Absolutely false’ viral claims
The claim from McCarthy, which has been echoed by many Republicans, is that the influx of money will lead to a flood of 87,000 new IRS agents who will then harass everyday Americans. Some critics of the agency go even further and claim these new agents will be armed.
But fact-checkers have repeatedly debunked the claims, and the agency itself pushed back in a Yahoo Finance op-ed from then-IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig in August.
The viral claims are “absolutely false,” Rettig wrote at the time, adding his agency “is often perceived as an easy target for mischaracterizations,” but he promised the new money will not lead to increased audit scrutiny on households making under $400,000.
The plan is instead for much of the money to go toward wealthy tax cheats. IRS estimates of the so-called “tax gap” — the difference between what taxes are owed to the government and what is actually paid — is hundreds of billions of dollars a year.
Much of the $80 billion will be focused on taking a bite out of the gap, focusing on wealthy tax payers. The investment is projected to pay for itself and then bring in over $100 billion in increased tax revenue over the coming decade.
In addition, a May 2021 report by the Department of Treasury estimated that more IRS funding could lead to 86,852 new employees, but many of those new employees would not be agents. Many would work in other areas like information technology.
And nearly all new agents would be unarmed. Very few IRS agents carry weapons as part of their responsibilities. Many of the hires would also replace the thousands of existing IRS workers expected to retire in the coming years.
Nonetheless, claims of a flood of new agents have persisted, repeated by figures ranging from the GOP chairwoman to Elon Musk.
Until recently, the understaffed IRS has been a bipartisan issue, but the increased funding became an issue during the 2022 campaign and played into conservative suspicions of the agency that have been growing for years.
Conservatives have long claimed the IRS targeted the tax-exempt status of political groups during the Obama administration, while a 2017 Treasury report on the controversy found that groups on both sides of the political spectrum had faced scrutiny.
‘The average American cares about defunding 87,000 IRS agents’
This week’s vote will put a spotlight on the agency just as Danny Werfel is set to return this year as Commissioner, leading the agency’s revamp.
In a recent Fox News appearance, Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) argued that “the average American cares about defunding 87,000 IRS agents.”
On the other side, activists defending the IRS are already attacking Republicans for even holding a vote, suggesting they will use it against Republicans in the coming years.
“House Republicans agree on one thing: rich people shouldn’t have to pay taxes,” is an example from someone in a group called Patriotic Millionaires. The group added in a recent letter to supporters that, “House Republicans are showing that, to them, the most important thing they can do for our country is to make it easier for wealthy criminals to cheat on their taxes illegally.”
Ben Werschkul is a Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
ANOTHER TORY F--K UP
Bill 124 a challenge to ending Ontario health-care staffing crisis, internal ministry documents say
Mon, January 9, 2023
Documents from the Ministry of Health obtained by freedom of information requests show Health Minister Sylvia Jones was briefed on 'concerns about wage disparity via Bill 124' when she stepped into the role last summer.
Bill 124 a challenge to ending Ontario health-care staffing crisis, internal ministry documents say
Mon, January 9, 2023
Documents from the Ministry of Health obtained by freedom of information requests show Health Minister Sylvia Jones was briefed on 'concerns about wage disparity via Bill 124' when she stepped into the role last summer.
(Chris Young/The Canadian Press - image credit)
The Ontario government's wage restraint legislation and deteriorating working conditions have played a role in the province's health-care staffing crisis, internal documents from the Ministry of Health acknowledge.
In briefing materials prepared for Minister of Health Sylvia Jones, ministry officials say shortages of nurses and personal support workers (PSWs) "have become worse" during the COVID-19 pandemic. The documents explicitly identify pandemic-related burnout, "concerns about wage disparity via Bill 124" and working conditions as the main challenges to ending shortages.
The notes say attrition among nurses in Ontario is at about five per cent annually, on par with pre-pandemic years. While nurses are not leaving the profession, the documents say, they are abandoning "front-line positions."
Increasing the number of nurses in the province and avoiding higher rates of attrition "are required to head off chronic shortages," the materials say.
For PSWs, attrition can be as high as 25 per cent each year, though it has recently averaged about 14 per cent.
"Wages and working conditions continue as key drivers" of PSWs leaving the health-care system, the internal documents say
Radio-Canada obtained the documents through a freedom of information request. They are part of a transition binder compiled in the summer to help distil key issues facing the health-care system as Jones stepped into the role of health minister. Global News Toronto reported on the findings earlier Monday.
Premier Doug Ford's government passed Bill 124 in 2019. The law capped wage increases for public sector employees at one per cent annually for three years and was met with fierce opposition from workers, labour groups and unions.
Last November, the Ontario Superior Court struck down the law, ruling it unconstitutional because it infringed on charter rights guaranteeing freedom of association and collective bargaining. The government is appealing the ruling.
Critics of the law have long argued that it contributed to severe health-care staffing shortages. Ford has previously said it was a necessary part of tackling the province's deficit, and that the province would bargain with individual groups in good faith as the bill's statutes expire.
Ontario making 'good progress' on health care, ministry says
When asked to comment on the document's findings, Hannah Jensen, a spokesperson for the Minister of Health, said Ontario isn't the only jurisdiction dealing with health-care challenges..
"The challenges facing our health care system are not unique to Ontario. While there is still more work to do, early results are showing that we're making good progress on our government's plan to build a stronger health-care system."
Frank Gunn/Canadian Press
Citing provincial data, Jensen said more than 14,500 more nurses and more than 1,000 family doctors registered to work in the province since 2018. She noted 2022 was a record year for nurse registration alone, with 12,802 nurses new to the system, according to the College of Nurses of Ontario.
"We also have a pipeline of talent in training, with nearly 30,000 nursing students currently enrolled in colleges and universities across the province."
A 'dishonour' to Ontarians needing health care
Bernie Robinson, interim president of the Ontario Nurses Association, says it's "distressing" for her to know the Ford government has this information and chose "not to act on it."
"It's a dishonour to every person who needs to access health care in Ontario," said Robinson.
says the association has been fighting to get the staffing crisis in health care acknowledged by the Ford government.
She says Ontario has the lowest nurse-to-population ratio in all of the country and nurses are switching to the private sector.
That's why the government needs to withdraw its appeal of the court's ruling, she says.
"They could channel that funding into sitting down with us and giving us an appropriate contract, something that entices nurses to come back."
Documents a 'slap in the face,' opposition says
The Ontario NDP and the Greens also called on the government to withdraw its appeal. Both parties' statements described the documents as a "slap in the face" to health workers.
Liberal MPP and health critic Dr. Adil Shamji said the internal documents add strength to opposition parties' arguments against Bill 124. His critiques came from his experience in the field, he says.
Shamji says the government needs to do a better job of prioritizing accountability and transparency. He says the documents indicated there was more data on nurse vacancy rates that was redacted, despite it being a public-interest issue.
"They now have to answer to their own documents, to their own ministerial briefings," said Shamji.
The Ontario government's wage restraint legislation and deteriorating working conditions have played a role in the province's health-care staffing crisis, internal documents from the Ministry of Health acknowledge.
In briefing materials prepared for Minister of Health Sylvia Jones, ministry officials say shortages of nurses and personal support workers (PSWs) "have become worse" during the COVID-19 pandemic. The documents explicitly identify pandemic-related burnout, "concerns about wage disparity via Bill 124" and working conditions as the main challenges to ending shortages.
The notes say attrition among nurses in Ontario is at about five per cent annually, on par with pre-pandemic years. While nurses are not leaving the profession, the documents say, they are abandoning "front-line positions."
Increasing the number of nurses in the province and avoiding higher rates of attrition "are required to head off chronic shortages," the materials say.
For PSWs, attrition can be as high as 25 per cent each year, though it has recently averaged about 14 per cent.
"Wages and working conditions continue as key drivers" of PSWs leaving the health-care system, the internal documents say
Radio-Canada obtained the documents through a freedom of information request. They are part of a transition binder compiled in the summer to help distil key issues facing the health-care system as Jones stepped into the role of health minister. Global News Toronto reported on the findings earlier Monday.
Premier Doug Ford's government passed Bill 124 in 2019. The law capped wage increases for public sector employees at one per cent annually for three years and was met with fierce opposition from workers, labour groups and unions.
Last November, the Ontario Superior Court struck down the law, ruling it unconstitutional because it infringed on charter rights guaranteeing freedom of association and collective bargaining. The government is appealing the ruling.
Critics of the law have long argued that it contributed to severe health-care staffing shortages. Ford has previously said it was a necessary part of tackling the province's deficit, and that the province would bargain with individual groups in good faith as the bill's statutes expire.
Ontario making 'good progress' on health care, ministry says
When asked to comment on the document's findings, Hannah Jensen, a spokesperson for the Minister of Health, said Ontario isn't the only jurisdiction dealing with health-care challenges..
"The challenges facing our health care system are not unique to Ontario. While there is still more work to do, early results are showing that we're making good progress on our government's plan to build a stronger health-care system."
Frank Gunn/Canadian Press
Citing provincial data, Jensen said more than 14,500 more nurses and more than 1,000 family doctors registered to work in the province since 2018. She noted 2022 was a record year for nurse registration alone, with 12,802 nurses new to the system, according to the College of Nurses of Ontario.
"We also have a pipeline of talent in training, with nearly 30,000 nursing students currently enrolled in colleges and universities across the province."
A 'dishonour' to Ontarians needing health care
Bernie Robinson, interim president of the Ontario Nurses Association, says it's "distressing" for her to know the Ford government has this information and chose "not to act on it."
"It's a dishonour to every person who needs to access health care in Ontario," said Robinson.
says the association has been fighting to get the staffing crisis in health care acknowledged by the Ford government.
She says Ontario has the lowest nurse-to-population ratio in all of the country and nurses are switching to the private sector.
That's why the government needs to withdraw its appeal of the court's ruling, she says.
"They could channel that funding into sitting down with us and giving us an appropriate contract, something that entices nurses to come back."
Documents a 'slap in the face,' opposition says
The Ontario NDP and the Greens also called on the government to withdraw its appeal. Both parties' statements described the documents as a "slap in the face" to health workers.
Liberal MPP and health critic Dr. Adil Shamji said the internal documents add strength to opposition parties' arguments against Bill 124. His critiques came from his experience in the field, he says.
Shamji says the government needs to do a better job of prioritizing accountability and transparency. He says the documents indicated there was more data on nurse vacancy rates that was redacted, despite it being a public-interest issue.
"They now have to answer to their own documents, to their own ministerial briefings," said Shamji.
Monday, January 09, 2023
UK
Strikes set to go ahead after ‘insulting’ talks with Health Secretary
PA Reporters
Mon, January 9, 2023
Planned strikes by healthcare workers looked set to go ahead, after talks between trade unions and the Government were branded “bitterly disappointing” and an “insult”.
Earlier, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “happy to talk about pay” with unions as ministers held a series of meetings aimed at ending a wave of industrial unrest in the NHS and on the rail network.
However, both the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Unite criticised the meeting with Health Secretary Steve Barclay, accusing ministers of “intransigence”.
Joanne Galbraith-Marten, director of employment relations and legal services at the RCN, said in a statement: “There is no resolution to our dispute yet in sight.
“Today’s meeting was bitterly disappointing – nothing for the current year and repeating that ‘the budget is already set’ for next year.
“This intransigence is letting patients down. Ministers have a distance to travel to avert next week’s nurse strike.”
Unite said any suggestion that a one-off pay reward could be made in exchange for a boost in productivity was “absolutely ludicrous”.
While other trade unions said that “progress” had been made, there was no sign that enough had been made for planned strikes to be called off.
Unite negotiator Onay Kasab, speaking after the meeting with Mr Barclay, accused the Government of telling staff they would need to “justify” a payment through productivity.
“This isn’t a factory we’re talking about, we’re talking about people who are working well beyond their contracted hours anyway just to get the job done because they care so much.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
“So, for the Government to be talking about productivity in exchange for a (payment) is an insult to every single one of our members.”
A Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) insider rejected Mr Kasab’s comments – and said he had not been one of the union representatives actually around the table with Mr Barclay.
The source said talk about productivity and efficiency improvements had been linked to the 2023/24 pay settlement, rather than a one-off payment.
Getting the NHS to work more efficiently could allow next year’s pay award to be “topped up”, the source suggested.
Mr Sunak had earlier not denied suggestions the Government was considering a one-off payment to help NHS staff deal with the soaring cost of living, but said any pay settlement would have to be affordable and not further increase inflation.
An ally of Mr Barclay said the issue of a one-off payment was raised at the meeting by the unions, rather than the Health Secretary.
Mr Barclay “listened to what he had to say and agreed to take it away,” the source told the PA news agency, “but that wasn’t in the context of efficiency and productivity”.
Alongside talks with health unions, teaching unions were holding talks with Education Secretary Gillian Keegan ahead of announcements this week over whether their members will go on strike.
(PA Graphics)
Rail minister Huw Merriman called in train workers after sustained action crippled services, with only one in five trains running between Tuesday and Saturday.
Mr Kasab said: “I emphasise the thing to get out of today that is absolutely clear is that they want our members to give more in order for it to consider a payment. That is absolutely outrageous.”
He said there had been no “detailed” discussion of what a pay settlement might look like, adding that the talks had left him “very angry”.
He added: “The Government have missed yet another opportunity. We came here in good faith.”
After the meeting, the GMB said that ambulance strikes would go ahead as planned on Wednesday, adding that the talks “fell well short” of anything needed to stop the walk-out.
GMB’s national secretary Rachel Harrison (House of Commons/PA)
More than 10,000 GMB members are expected by the trade union to take to picket lines on Wednesday.
“There was some engagement on pay – but not a concrete offer that could help resolve this dispute and make significant progress on the recruitment and retention crisis,” said Rachel Harrison, GMB’s national secretary.
“The public expects the Government to treat these talks seriously – it’s time they got on with it.”
Sara Gorton, head of health at Unison, told reporters that “progress” had been made but said there had been no “tangible” concessions.
Sara Gorton, head of health at Unison, speaks to the media after a meeting with Health Secretary Steve Barclay (Yui Mok/PA)
“It was a very civil meeting. We did actually manage to talk about pay – we didn’t get the tangible concessions that we might have hoped for that would enable us to call off the strikes later this week.
“But it was definitely progress when you’re in a room with the Secretary of State talking about pay, I think.
“He’s asked for our help to help with the Treasury to make the case for investment. We’ll certainly do that.”
Physiotherapists also said they would be announcing strike dates later this week despite the talks.
(PA Graphics)
Elaine Sparkes, assistant director at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, said: “Although the meeting was more constructive this time, there is nothing tangible on the table.
“As such, we’ll be announcing the first of our strike dates later this week as we continue to push for a fairer deal for our members and their colleagues.”
The Government had previously refused to discuss wages for nurses and other public-sector workers, insisting those were matters for the independent pay review bodies, but over the weekend Mr Sunak hinted at movement.
On Monday, Mr Sunak declined to get into the “specifics” of the Government’s approach but said that he was “really pleased that union leaders accepted ministers’ invitations to come in today to have discussions across the board and that’s a really positive development”.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (Henry Nicholls/PA)
“On pay, we’ve always said that the Government is happy to talk about pay demands and pay issues that are anchored in what’s reasonable, what’s responsible, what’s affordable for the country.”
Downing Street earlier warned that concerns about inflation had not gone away as the Government prepares for the next round of pay talks for 2023/24.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the Government was open to listening to trade unions’ concerns.
“We are happy to listen to the pressures they think they are under, what they think is fair, responsible and affordable, and likewise we will provide detail about what we think is affordable, and also the challenge that inflation poses to all of this as well.”
Mick Lynch, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) leaves the Department of Transport in Westminster (James Manning/PA)
Elsewhere, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch dodged questions about progress in rail talks but said that further discussions would take place.
Mick Whelan, general secretary of train drivers’ union Aslef, gave a shrugging gesture as he left the Department for Transport but also declined to give any detail of the meeting.
The National Education Union said that “no concrete progress” had been made in its talks with the education secretary.
Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU, said: “While there is the thought of further meetings, there is no sense of concrete progress as yet. There is no offer, there is no change.
Joint Secretary of the National Education Union Kevin Courtney, in Westminster (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
“There are further discussions to happen that we will engage in while still urging our members to vote in the ballot.”
Mr Courtney added: “There is nothing so far that would dissuade us from taking industrial action because we think these meetings are only happening because of the threat of industrial action.”
Business Secretary Grant Shapps has said ministers were seeking a more “collaborative approach”, telling BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme: “It is a new year. We are very keen to see these strikes come to a conclusion. We want to see a collaborative approach.”
Junior doctors vote on whether to walkout in March in row over pay
Alan Jones, PA Industrial Correspondent
Sun, January 8, 2023
Thousands of junior doctors in England will start voting on Monday on whether to strike over pay in the latest outbreak of industrial unrest sweeping the country.
Around 45,000 members of the British Medical Association (BMA) are being balloted, with the result due at the end of February.
The BMA has told the Government if there is a yes vote, junior doctors will begin their action with a 72-hour “full walkout” in March.
It urged the Health Secretary to meet doctors and negotiate a solution to avoid strikes.
The association said Steve Barclay is the first Health Secretary for over 50 years to continue to “ignore” all invitations from the BMA to meet doctors to discuss their pay, making attempts to find a negotiated settlement “virtually impossible”.
The BMA said successive governments have overseen 15 years of real-terms pay cuts for junior doctors in England, which amounts to a “staggering and unjustifiable” 26.1% decline in pay since 2008/09.
The BMA said patients are suffering and exhausted staff are burning out and leaving the NHS and yet the Government “fails to see the crisis in front of it”.
Ministers are accused of ignoring all the evidence to the contrary and preferring to treat the public as “fools” with assurances the NHS has all the resources it needs.
The Government’s door is “firmly shut to dialogue”, let alone talks, so there is no option left other than to ballot junior doctors in England for strike action, the BMA said.
Dr Vivek Trivedi and Dr Robert Laurenson, co-chairmen of the BMA junior doctors committee, said: “The Prime Minister says his door and that of the Health Secretary are ‘always open’.
“But after more than a decade of pay cuts, no offer to restore our pay has been made and all our calls to meet and letters to the Health Secretary and his immediate predecessors have been ignored.
“When we are faced with such resolute ongoing silence and there is no agreed settlement on the table, then we are left with no choice but to act.
“Junior doctors are not worth a quarter less than they were 15 years ago nor do they deserve to be valued so little by their own Government. Pay erosion, exhaustion and despair are forcing junior doctors out of the NHS, pushing waiting lists even higher as patients suffer needlessly.
“The Government’s refusal to address 15 years of pay erosion has given junior doctors no choice but to ballot for industrial action. If the Government won’t fight for our health service then we will.
“It is particularly galling for junior doctors to see the Government repeatedly justify huge real-terms pay cuts for NHS staff by claiming that these have been made by so-called ‘independent’ pay review bodies free from government interference.
“The reality is that the doctors’ pay review body has been constrained by political interference for more than a decade. Even after recommendations have been made to increase junior doctors’ pay, the Government has completely ignored them and has asked the pay review body to completely exclude junior doctors from its recommendations.
“When even the pay review process – broken as it is – is telling ministers to act, you know something has gone seriously wrong.”
Junior doctors will not provide emergency care during any strike, the BMA said, adding trusts will need to arrange emergency cover to ensure patient safety.
“We will be giving trusts and the Government enough notice to prepare for this. This is to ensure that patients whose appointments are cancelled know well in advance and to ensure that employers can manage their medical rotas appropriately to ensure emergency care is no different to any other day,” the BMA said.
The ballot will open ahead of fresh strikes in the coming weeks by ambulance staff and nurses over pay and staffing.
Miriam Deakin, director of policy at NHS Providers, said: “The announcement by the BMA that junior doctors could begin their action with a 72-hour full walkout in March, with no emergency cover if a ballot is successful, is deeply worrying.
“Should junior doctors vote for industrial action, trust leaders will do everything they can to minimise disruption and prioritise the safe delivery of care and services for patients.
“Trust leaders are very concerned about the possibility of prolonged or co-ordinated strike action by health unions in the coming months.
“They also understand the factors that have driven junior doctors and other healthcare workers to ballot on industrial action.
“We are reiterating our plea to both the Government and union leaders to get around the table and find an agreed solution, including on pay, as soon as possible. Prolonged action is something everyone wants to avoid.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We have been clear that supporting and retaining the NHS workforce is one of our key priorities and that includes junior doctors.
“The multi-year pay deal with the British Medical Association is increasing junior doctors’ pay by a cumulative 8.2% by March 2023.
“We have also invested an additional £90 million to provide the most experienced junior doctors with higher pay, increase allowances for those working the most frequently at weekends and increase rates of pay for night shifts.
“The Health and Social Care Secretary wants to have an honest conversation with unions – including the BMA – about what is affordable in pay settlements for next year during these challenging times, and has invited them to discuss as soon as possible.”
In 2019, the Government and BMA agreed a multi-year pay deal for doctors and dentists in training.
That ends in March and the Government believes the upcoming pay round is the appropriate time to discuss pay.
Health and social care workers join strike action for better pay
Gráinne Nà Aodha and David Young, PA
Mon, January 9, 2023
Health and social care workers in Northern Ireland are to join a 24-hour strike planned for later this month in a bid for better pay.
Trade union Unite said that 87% of its healthcare workers across Northern Ireland’s five trusts and the ambulance service voted to take industrial action over the next two months.
It will mean that 4,000 health and social care workers represented by Unite will go on a 24-hour strike on January 26, followed by two 48-hour strikes on February 16 and 17, 23 and 24.
They are the latest group of healthcare workers to join the rolling industrial action taken by healthcare workers at Unison, Nipsa and GMB for better pay.
In December, members of three unions formed picket lines at hospitals and other health service facilities.
Hundreds of appointments and services were also affected before Christmas, after the Royal College of Nursing took part in two 12-hour strikes across Northern Ireland, England and Wales.
“If proof were needed of the determination of NHS workers to fight for a better deal it’s here in the 87% vote recorded in the Trusts in Northern Ireland,” Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said.
“In the absence of a functioning Stormont Executive, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak needs to show some leadership, bang some heads together, make sure that we can get back to negotiations and offer NHS workers in Northern Ireland a better deal.”
Lead regional officer for Unite in health in Northern Ireland, Kevin McAdam, confirmed the union’s members would be joining the picket lines with members of other health unions with the first 24-hour action on January 26.
“Unite’s nearly 4,000 health members in Northern Ireland have returned a 87% rejection of the imposition of a below-inflation pay award to health workers in the region,” he said.
“In the absence of action to address our members’ pay claim, we have been left with no alternative but to notify employers of strike action.”
Gráinne Nà Aodha and David Young, PA
Mon, January 9, 2023
Health and social care workers in Northern Ireland are to join a 24-hour strike planned for later this month in a bid for better pay.
Trade union Unite said that 87% of its healthcare workers across Northern Ireland’s five trusts and the ambulance service voted to take industrial action over the next two months.
It will mean that 4,000 health and social care workers represented by Unite will go on a 24-hour strike on January 26, followed by two 48-hour strikes on February 16 and 17, 23 and 24.
They are the latest group of healthcare workers to join the rolling industrial action taken by healthcare workers at Unison, Nipsa and GMB for better pay.
In December, members of three unions formed picket lines at hospitals and other health service facilities.
Hundreds of appointments and services were also affected before Christmas, after the Royal College of Nursing took part in two 12-hour strikes across Northern Ireland, England and Wales.
“If proof were needed of the determination of NHS workers to fight for a better deal it’s here in the 87% vote recorded in the Trusts in Northern Ireland,” Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said.
“In the absence of a functioning Stormont Executive, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak needs to show some leadership, bang some heads together, make sure that we can get back to negotiations and offer NHS workers in Northern Ireland a better deal.”
Lead regional officer for Unite in health in Northern Ireland, Kevin McAdam, confirmed the union’s members would be joining the picket lines with members of other health unions with the first 24-hour action on January 26.
“Unite’s nearly 4,000 health members in Northern Ireland have returned a 87% rejection of the imposition of a below-inflation pay award to health workers in the region,” he said.
“In the absence of action to address our members’ pay claim, we have been left with no alternative but to notify employers of strike action.”
Downing Street 'considering one-off payment for nurses' to end strikes after previously rejecting idea
Mon, January 9, 2023
Downing Street is believed to be considering a one-off payment for nurses after rejecting the idea before Christmas.
About six weeks ago Steve Barclay, the health secretary, floated the idea of giving nurses a single payment to cover the increased cost of living this financial year, ending in April - but Downing Street and the Treasury rejected it, Sky News understands.
It is understood Number 10 is now warming to the idea as nurses prepare for strike action on 18 and 19 January after walking out for the first time before Christmas.
Unions say 'an insult' meeting to last 'just 45 minutes' - live politics updates
Rishi Sunak on Monday refused to confirm or deny if the government was considering a one-off payment but said the most important thing is "talks are happening".
The Royal College of Nursing has said it would accept a pay rise of about 10% - down from its initial demand of 19% - if the government could meet them halfway.
The union said it would call off strike action if the government discussed pay for this financial year, but ministers have said that was all decided long ago and they only want to talk about next year's pay.
RCN England director Patricia Marquis told Sky News: "We'll be interested, of course, to hear what Steve Barclay's got to say.
"But unless we're able to have some conversation about this year's pay award, then sadly this isn't going to resolve the dispute that we currently have with the government."
Read more: Who is striking and when this month?
Health union bosses are meeting Mr Barclay today for talks on pay and conditions in a major break-through for workers after the government initially said it was for the independent pay review bodies to negotiate pay, not ministers.
The government is also meeting train and teachers' union leaders ahead of further strikes by those industries.
Mr Sunak said the government's door "is always open" to unions for talks on pay if they are "based on what's affordable, what's responsible and what's reasonable".
A deal is not expected to be agreed upon today for any of the unions, but the fact they are meeting is an important step forward.
Junior doctors - any doctor below consultant level - have started voting today on whether to carry out a "full walkout" in March, with a result expected by the end of February.
About 45,000 British Medical Association (BMA) members are being balloted as they call for better pay, having been excluded from an NHS pay rise this year because their contract is subject to a multi-pay deal, agreed in 2019 and ending in March, that gave them a 2% rise for 2022/2023.
The BMA said junior doctors in England have seen a real-term pay cut over the past 15 years, which amounts to a 26.1% decline in pay since 2008/9.
The union confirmed it has not been invited to today's pay talks with ministers, who it says have recommended they again get a 2% pay rise next year.
Mon, January 9, 2023
Downing Street is believed to be considering a one-off payment for nurses after rejecting the idea before Christmas.
About six weeks ago Steve Barclay, the health secretary, floated the idea of giving nurses a single payment to cover the increased cost of living this financial year, ending in April - but Downing Street and the Treasury rejected it, Sky News understands.
It is understood Number 10 is now warming to the idea as nurses prepare for strike action on 18 and 19 January after walking out for the first time before Christmas.
Unions say 'an insult' meeting to last 'just 45 minutes' - live politics updates
Rishi Sunak on Monday refused to confirm or deny if the government was considering a one-off payment but said the most important thing is "talks are happening".
The Royal College of Nursing has said it would accept a pay rise of about 10% - down from its initial demand of 19% - if the government could meet them halfway.
The union said it would call off strike action if the government discussed pay for this financial year, but ministers have said that was all decided long ago and they only want to talk about next year's pay.
RCN England director Patricia Marquis told Sky News: "We'll be interested, of course, to hear what Steve Barclay's got to say.
"But unless we're able to have some conversation about this year's pay award, then sadly this isn't going to resolve the dispute that we currently have with the government."
Read more: Who is striking and when this month?
Health union bosses are meeting Mr Barclay today for talks on pay and conditions in a major break-through for workers after the government initially said it was for the independent pay review bodies to negotiate pay, not ministers.
The government is also meeting train and teachers' union leaders ahead of further strikes by those industries.
Mr Sunak said the government's door "is always open" to unions for talks on pay if they are "based on what's affordable, what's responsible and what's reasonable".
A deal is not expected to be agreed upon today for any of the unions, but the fact they are meeting is an important step forward.
Junior doctors - any doctor below consultant level - have started voting today on whether to carry out a "full walkout" in March, with a result expected by the end of February.
About 45,000 British Medical Association (BMA) members are being balloted as they call for better pay, having been excluded from an NHS pay rise this year because their contract is subject to a multi-pay deal, agreed in 2019 and ending in March, that gave them a 2% rise for 2022/2023.
The BMA said junior doctors in England have seen a real-term pay cut over the past 15 years, which amounts to a 26.1% decline in pay since 2008/9.
The union confirmed it has not been invited to today's pay talks with ministers, who it says have recommended they again get a 2% pay rise next year.
Strikes set to go ahead after ‘insulting’ talks with Health Secretary
PA Reporters
Mon, January 9, 2023
Planned strikes by healthcare workers looked set to go ahead, after talks between trade unions and the Government were branded “bitterly disappointing” and an “insult”.
Earlier, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was “happy to talk about pay” with unions as ministers held a series of meetings aimed at ending a wave of industrial unrest in the NHS and on the rail network.
However, both the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Unite criticised the meeting with Health Secretary Steve Barclay, accusing ministers of “intransigence”.
Joanne Galbraith-Marten, director of employment relations and legal services at the RCN, said in a statement: “There is no resolution to our dispute yet in sight.
“Today’s meeting was bitterly disappointing – nothing for the current year and repeating that ‘the budget is already set’ for next year.
“This intransigence is letting patients down. Ministers have a distance to travel to avert next week’s nurse strike.”
Unite said any suggestion that a one-off pay reward could be made in exchange for a boost in productivity was “absolutely ludicrous”.
While other trade unions said that “progress” had been made, there was no sign that enough had been made for planned strikes to be called off.
Unite negotiator Onay Kasab, speaking after the meeting with Mr Barclay, accused the Government of telling staff they would need to “justify” a payment through productivity.
“This isn’t a factory we’re talking about, we’re talking about people who are working well beyond their contracted hours anyway just to get the job done because they care so much.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
“So, for the Government to be talking about productivity in exchange for a (payment) is an insult to every single one of our members.”
A Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) insider rejected Mr Kasab’s comments – and said he had not been one of the union representatives actually around the table with Mr Barclay.
The source said talk about productivity and efficiency improvements had been linked to the 2023/24 pay settlement, rather than a one-off payment.
Getting the NHS to work more efficiently could allow next year’s pay award to be “topped up”, the source suggested.
Mr Sunak had earlier not denied suggestions the Government was considering a one-off payment to help NHS staff deal with the soaring cost of living, but said any pay settlement would have to be affordable and not further increase inflation.
An ally of Mr Barclay said the issue of a one-off payment was raised at the meeting by the unions, rather than the Health Secretary.
Mr Barclay “listened to what he had to say and agreed to take it away,” the source told the PA news agency, “but that wasn’t in the context of efficiency and productivity”.
Alongside talks with health unions, teaching unions were holding talks with Education Secretary Gillian Keegan ahead of announcements this week over whether their members will go on strike.
(PA Graphics)
Rail minister Huw Merriman called in train workers after sustained action crippled services, with only one in five trains running between Tuesday and Saturday.
Mr Kasab said: “I emphasise the thing to get out of today that is absolutely clear is that they want our members to give more in order for it to consider a payment. That is absolutely outrageous.”
He said there had been no “detailed” discussion of what a pay settlement might look like, adding that the talks had left him “very angry”.
He added: “The Government have missed yet another opportunity. We came here in good faith.”
After the meeting, the GMB said that ambulance strikes would go ahead as planned on Wednesday, adding that the talks “fell well short” of anything needed to stop the walk-out.
GMB’s national secretary Rachel Harrison (House of Commons/PA)
More than 10,000 GMB members are expected by the trade union to take to picket lines on Wednesday.
“There was some engagement on pay – but not a concrete offer that could help resolve this dispute and make significant progress on the recruitment and retention crisis,” said Rachel Harrison, GMB’s national secretary.
“The public expects the Government to treat these talks seriously – it’s time they got on with it.”
Sara Gorton, head of health at Unison, told reporters that “progress” had been made but said there had been no “tangible” concessions.
Sara Gorton, head of health at Unison, speaks to the media after a meeting with Health Secretary Steve Barclay (Yui Mok/PA)
“It was a very civil meeting. We did actually manage to talk about pay – we didn’t get the tangible concessions that we might have hoped for that would enable us to call off the strikes later this week.
“But it was definitely progress when you’re in a room with the Secretary of State talking about pay, I think.
“He’s asked for our help to help with the Treasury to make the case for investment. We’ll certainly do that.”
Physiotherapists also said they would be announcing strike dates later this week despite the talks.
(PA Graphics)
Elaine Sparkes, assistant director at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, said: “Although the meeting was more constructive this time, there is nothing tangible on the table.
“As such, we’ll be announcing the first of our strike dates later this week as we continue to push for a fairer deal for our members and their colleagues.”
The Government had previously refused to discuss wages for nurses and other public-sector workers, insisting those were matters for the independent pay review bodies, but over the weekend Mr Sunak hinted at movement.
On Monday, Mr Sunak declined to get into the “specifics” of the Government’s approach but said that he was “really pleased that union leaders accepted ministers’ invitations to come in today to have discussions across the board and that’s a really positive development”.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (Henry Nicholls/PA)
“On pay, we’ve always said that the Government is happy to talk about pay demands and pay issues that are anchored in what’s reasonable, what’s responsible, what’s affordable for the country.”
Downing Street earlier warned that concerns about inflation had not gone away as the Government prepares for the next round of pay talks for 2023/24.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said the Government was open to listening to trade unions’ concerns.
“We are happy to listen to the pressures they think they are under, what they think is fair, responsible and affordable, and likewise we will provide detail about what we think is affordable, and also the challenge that inflation poses to all of this as well.”
Mick Lynch, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) leaves the Department of Transport in Westminster (James Manning/PA)
Elsewhere, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch dodged questions about progress in rail talks but said that further discussions would take place.
Mick Whelan, general secretary of train drivers’ union Aslef, gave a shrugging gesture as he left the Department for Transport but also declined to give any detail of the meeting.
The National Education Union said that “no concrete progress” had been made in its talks with the education secretary.
Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU, said: “While there is the thought of further meetings, there is no sense of concrete progress as yet. There is no offer, there is no change.
Joint Secretary of the National Education Union Kevin Courtney, in Westminster (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
“There are further discussions to happen that we will engage in while still urging our members to vote in the ballot.”
Mr Courtney added: “There is nothing so far that would dissuade us from taking industrial action because we think these meetings are only happening because of the threat of industrial action.”
Business Secretary Grant Shapps has said ministers were seeking a more “collaborative approach”, telling BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme: “It is a new year. We are very keen to see these strikes come to a conclusion. We want to see a collaborative approach.”
Junior doctors vote on whether to walkout in March in row over pay
Alan Jones, PA Industrial Correspondent
Sun, January 8, 2023
Thousands of junior doctors in England will start voting on Monday on whether to strike over pay in the latest outbreak of industrial unrest sweeping the country.
Around 45,000 members of the British Medical Association (BMA) are being balloted, with the result due at the end of February.
The BMA has told the Government if there is a yes vote, junior doctors will begin their action with a 72-hour “full walkout” in March.
It urged the Health Secretary to meet doctors and negotiate a solution to avoid strikes.
The association said Steve Barclay is the first Health Secretary for over 50 years to continue to “ignore” all invitations from the BMA to meet doctors to discuss their pay, making attempts to find a negotiated settlement “virtually impossible”.
The BMA said successive governments have overseen 15 years of real-terms pay cuts for junior doctors in England, which amounts to a “staggering and unjustifiable” 26.1% decline in pay since 2008/09.
The BMA said patients are suffering and exhausted staff are burning out and leaving the NHS and yet the Government “fails to see the crisis in front of it”.
Ministers are accused of ignoring all the evidence to the contrary and preferring to treat the public as “fools” with assurances the NHS has all the resources it needs.
The Government’s door is “firmly shut to dialogue”, let alone talks, so there is no option left other than to ballot junior doctors in England for strike action, the BMA said.
Dr Vivek Trivedi and Dr Robert Laurenson, co-chairmen of the BMA junior doctors committee, said: “The Prime Minister says his door and that of the Health Secretary are ‘always open’.
“But after more than a decade of pay cuts, no offer to restore our pay has been made and all our calls to meet and letters to the Health Secretary and his immediate predecessors have been ignored.
“When we are faced with such resolute ongoing silence and there is no agreed settlement on the table, then we are left with no choice but to act.
“Junior doctors are not worth a quarter less than they were 15 years ago nor do they deserve to be valued so little by their own Government. Pay erosion, exhaustion and despair are forcing junior doctors out of the NHS, pushing waiting lists even higher as patients suffer needlessly.
“The Government’s refusal to address 15 years of pay erosion has given junior doctors no choice but to ballot for industrial action. If the Government won’t fight for our health service then we will.
“It is particularly galling for junior doctors to see the Government repeatedly justify huge real-terms pay cuts for NHS staff by claiming that these have been made by so-called ‘independent’ pay review bodies free from government interference.
“The reality is that the doctors’ pay review body has been constrained by political interference for more than a decade. Even after recommendations have been made to increase junior doctors’ pay, the Government has completely ignored them and has asked the pay review body to completely exclude junior doctors from its recommendations.
“When even the pay review process – broken as it is – is telling ministers to act, you know something has gone seriously wrong.”
Junior doctors will not provide emergency care during any strike, the BMA said, adding trusts will need to arrange emergency cover to ensure patient safety.
“We will be giving trusts and the Government enough notice to prepare for this. This is to ensure that patients whose appointments are cancelled know well in advance and to ensure that employers can manage their medical rotas appropriately to ensure emergency care is no different to any other day,” the BMA said.
The ballot will open ahead of fresh strikes in the coming weeks by ambulance staff and nurses over pay and staffing.
Miriam Deakin, director of policy at NHS Providers, said: “The announcement by the BMA that junior doctors could begin their action with a 72-hour full walkout in March, with no emergency cover if a ballot is successful, is deeply worrying.
“Should junior doctors vote for industrial action, trust leaders will do everything they can to minimise disruption and prioritise the safe delivery of care and services for patients.
“Trust leaders are very concerned about the possibility of prolonged or co-ordinated strike action by health unions in the coming months.
“They also understand the factors that have driven junior doctors and other healthcare workers to ballot on industrial action.
“We are reiterating our plea to both the Government and union leaders to get around the table and find an agreed solution, including on pay, as soon as possible. Prolonged action is something everyone wants to avoid.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We have been clear that supporting and retaining the NHS workforce is one of our key priorities and that includes junior doctors.
“The multi-year pay deal with the British Medical Association is increasing junior doctors’ pay by a cumulative 8.2% by March 2023.
“We have also invested an additional £90 million to provide the most experienced junior doctors with higher pay, increase allowances for those working the most frequently at weekends and increase rates of pay for night shifts.
“The Health and Social Care Secretary wants to have an honest conversation with unions – including the BMA – about what is affordable in pay settlements for next year during these challenging times, and has invited them to discuss as soon as possible.”
In 2019, the Government and BMA agreed a multi-year pay deal for doctors and dentists in training.
That ends in March and the Government believes the upcoming pay round is the appropriate time to discuss pay.
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