{"id":9060,"date":"2016-06-21T12:51:25","date_gmt":"2016-06-21T11:51:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=9060"},"modified":"2016-06-21T13:48:57","modified_gmt":"2016-06-21T12:48:57","slug":"diseases-dont-respect-borders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=9060","title":{"rendered":"Diseases don’t respect borders"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

In UNITElive’s second instalment of our series in which we ask members what being in the EU has meant to them, we talk to Beverley, a biomedical scientist. <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The EU referendum debate has been dominated by big intangibles \u00e2\u20ac\u201c phrases like \u00e2\u20ac\u0098take back control\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and \u00e2\u20ac\u0098leap in the dark\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 have made headlines seemingly every day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But for Unite rep and biomedical scientist Beverley Wallace, being part of the EU is all about the little things \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in fact, so little that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re microscopic.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not work you hear about often but Beverley and her colleagues spend their days looking at the tiniest bacteria to determine which antibiotics might be needed to fight it. Their role in protecting us all from the scourge of infectious disease is without question.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But Beverley notes that membership in the European Union plays just as important a role in fighting these invisible microbes that can, and often do, kill so many.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Standards<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur country being in the EU is absolutely critical in our line of work,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThrough cooperation among EU member states, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re able to identify trends in diseases so we can know early on whether they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re developing a resistance to antibiotics.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Beverley explained that laboratories in all EU member states will all work to the same standards beginning next January, another important development in fighting disease.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSay you become ill \u00c2\u00a0you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re on your way to Spain and your admitted to hospital.\u00c2\u00a0 Your lab \u00c2\u00a0results could be understood in UK on your return because we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll all be using the same standards and measurements. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because of collaboration that treating disease is much more effective and efficient.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Many might think that this sort of collaboration could very well still happen if the UK chooses to leave the EU, but Beverley disagrees.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bCollaboration among EU member states happens precisely because we are part of an intentional collective,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhen we are part of the EU, we biomedical scientists can carry out our work safe in the knowledge that what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t about borders.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe know we can pass on information freely to each other because each member country specifically works for the betterment of all our welfare together. Diseases, after all, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t respect borders \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we need more collaboration, not less.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Equal pay<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Beverley, who has worked in the NHS for more than two decades, believes that if more people knew about the rights and protections we receive from being part of the EU, much fewer people would want to vote Leave.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSo many of our rights as workers we get from the European Union,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bEverything from maternity pay to paid holidays and mandatory rest breaks come directly from EU legislation that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve adopted.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the EU-derived Working Time regulations that stop bosses from working you to death. When the government of the day, like ours is now, believes strongly in letting market forces dictate everything, this legislation is a very important protection for UK workers.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While most people only have a vague idea about how they benefit personally from the EU, Beverley, who has worked for the NHS for 25 years, knows from first-hand experience how the EU has helped her and others in the health service gain equal pay.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It all started in 1986, when a group of speech and language therapists launched an equal pay case. At the time, the therapists, who were mostly women, were being paid significantly less than clinical psychologists, who were mostly men.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

UK courts at the time rejected their claim repeatedly \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t until their case was taken to the European Court of Justice several years later that their claim was upheld.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis decision from Strasbourg was monumental and led directly to Agenda for Change, a new NHS pay system that helps ensure workers are being paid fairly,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Beverley explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t for the EU, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d still be in a situation where speech and language therapists would be earning \u00c2\u01418,000 a year less than clinical psychologists for no discernible reason.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If we leave, we lose
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Working in the NHS, Beverley is behind the scenes in the debate on immigration \u00e2\u20ac\u201c EU migrants make up a significant portion of health service staff. In fact, one in every 10 doctors is originally from other countries that make up the European Union.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Right before the UK lifted immigration restrictions on Romania and Bulgaria in 2014, newspapers warned of a sudden and crushing influx of migrants from these two countries, Beverley recalled.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut the so-called mass flood of Romanian and Bulgarian migrants never happened,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

While Beverley understands the fear instilled by the media that has prompted many people to consider voting Leave, she asks Brexit supporters to think more carefully.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMembership in the EU has helped us in so many ways — employment rights, consumer protections, and migrants who not only enrich our culture but actually contribute more in taxes than they use in benefits,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she argued. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bLook closely at what the EU has given us. Do we really want to give that up? If we leave, we lose.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In UNITElive’s second instalment of our series in which we ask members what being in the EU has meant to them, we talk to Beverley, a biomedical scientist.   The EU referendum debate has been dominated by big intangibles \u00e2\u20ac\u201c phrases like \u00e2\u20ac\u0098take back control\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and \u00e2\u20ac\u0098leap in the dark\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 have made headlines seemingly every […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4106,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[486,465],"wps_subtitle":"Unite's Beverely Wallace explains how the EU helps fight disease","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9060"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9060"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9063,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9060\/revisions\/9063"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}