The withdrawal of one’s labour is a human right but for health workers that may be trumped by a greater human duty of care.

If a group,like healthworkers, forgo the right to strike then they have to be protected against abuse by some independent authority to ensure their rewards are adequate and their working week is compatible with health and safety for themselves and those for whom they care.

An owner has a right to close down his business but health organisations too have a duty of care and to stay open 24 hours a day despite…..

Some of the usual rules of engagement do not apply, There is much greater pressure to make progress, to keep some sort of service going and to compromise in Health Management.

Quite often there is a lot of posturing for the benefit of the media, the threat of strike, the work to rule, the partial removal of service; but great efforts are made not to lose public sympathy. These tactics are often effective,particularly when nurses who are always presented as”angels of mercy” demand more pay from Governments!