Strike Update

Dean,

Thanks for responding.

Crossing my fingers and toes for the best outcome for all.

Janey, in answer to your questions,

1. Yes, it is designed to be a statement. It won't be just physios striking that day. A number of public service professions will be involved. I'm not getting the impression that it is supposed to be a threat of things to come.

2. The choice of whether or not to work that day is up to the individual. However one wonders about the impact of crossing a picket line and the effects that will have on professional relationships down the road. The scene from the film "Billy Elliot" (shot in the town I work in) where the scabs take a bus past the striking miners keeps playing in my head.

The government has presented a compromise option. Let's see how that plays out.

Glad I'm not you right now.  Sorry you are having to go through this, but appreciate you letting us watch from the sidelines.  A few curiosity questions.

Am I misunderstanding that striking for one day won't be any different from a snow day, which is a regular winter occurrence there?  Is it to act as a sort of statement of what physios are willing to do, a sort of threat of what could come if the proposed changes go through?  

Is it requisite that all physios act according to the majority vote?  If the majority voted for the strike, would a physio who voted against it be required to strike?

Hope the strike, or lack thereof, results in the desired outcome for UK physios.

You are between a rock and a hard place.  I went to Scotland a few weeks ago. My strongest memory is how expensive everything was.  The cost of things there was about twice as much as what I pay here.  I can almost understand the motivation behind a strike.  What is one day versus a life time?

I would like to think I would have voted to continue working.  But that is the patient advocate inside of me speaking.  I don't think a one day work stoppage will make any difference.  It wouldn't here.  The powers that be know after that day things will return to normal.  I think you will need to strike for longer than that to make a difference.  The problem is the perception of benefit of  physiotherapy isn't that high.  It won't increase until there is evidence of what happens when patients don't receive therapy.

I don't evny you and your fellow physios.  In the end you must go with what your heart tells you is best.  I wish you the best of luck.