The PDA Union respects other independent trade unions and offers a message of solidarity and support to our colleagues in Unite who are undertaking industrial action at NHS Tayside. We all want to see an efficient and effective pharmacy service at NHS Tayside, and that means paying pharmacy support staff fairly, through a grading system, which truly reflects their responsibilities.
Guidance to PDAU members about official picket lines
Where another union undertaking industrial action establishes an official picket line, refusal to cross it would render a non-striking pharmacist liable to be disciplined, including the deduction of salary as it would be considered as participating in un-balloted industrial action.
The single exception to this is where there are genuine grounds to believe that crossing the picket line would put the person concerned at risk of injury. In such circumstances, members should contact their senior/department manager for guidance.
In all other circumstances, members should cross the picket line if they are due to work. Those picketing should be assured that PDAU members who cross the picket line will not undertake work that those on strike would normally have carried out, if this is at all avoidable. However, patient safety and care will always be the priority for pharmacists, in accordance with their professional duties, the NHS terms of service and their employment contracts.
Pharmacists should ensure that pharmacy managers are aware of any consequences of striking colleagues being absent. Messages of support for the colleagues taking lawful industrial action can also be shared.
Read more about this dispute on the website of Unite the Union