Health minister Andy Burnham faces a sleepless night tonight ahead of his keynote address to the Unison health conference tomorrow morning.
Though the union leadership plans to urge the 1,000 delegates to exercise polite restraint when the minister takes the Brighton conference platform, they don't expect angry delegates to pay much heed. Hilary Benn, the secretary of state for international development, tested the water yesterday and faced a barracking from members over pay, privatisation, and the government's marketisation of the NHS.
Ostensibly doing the union rounds to build support for his Labour deputy leadership bid, Mr Benn received it with both barrels from nurses, occupational therapists, admin and auxiliary staff who feel the Labour government to which their union affiliates is pushing them, and the nation's favourite public service, to the limit.
The verbal mauling Mr Burnham faces is nothing compared to the damage unions may collectively wreak over the decision to stage the 2.5% pay award over six months. Today a motion calling for strike action is likely to be backed overwhelmingly, if not unanimously, with the full support of the executive.
The union leadership points out that the staggered pay rise drops the overall value to just 1.9% and is nothing short of "insulting" to its members at a time when they are assaulted with constant change under the government's public service reforms. Unison expect to orchestrate their ballot of 450,000 members with their usually tamer sister union the Royal College of Nursing, which returned a shocked verdict last week when nine out of 10 backed industrial action to force the government to reconsider.
The prospect of massive industrial unrest will prove a political nightmare to Gordon Brown, who is expected to be prime minister when the strikes kick off, possibly in July. Since the chancellor has backed Tony Blair's NHS reforms, he cannot now turn round and try to deflect NHS workers' wrath onto Mr Blair.
And there's more to come. Anger at the government's determination to "marketise" the system through its choice agenda and a new financial system which means money more directly follows patients, has prompted plans for a national demonstration on October 13.
But what did the government really expect? Job cuts, service closures, and NHS financial meltdown are all being felt by the 1.3m workers delivering health services in some shape or form.
The twin track protest could prove a gift to Tory leader David Cameron, who has felt the public pulse and decided to champion the NHS as a key campaign priority.
It's probably no coincidence that the Labour party this week launches its campaign, Your NHS: Better under Labour, where government ministers will tour the country to laud NHS improvements under a Labour government. With just two weeks before the May 3 elections across Scotland and Wales, and the local council elections, a last ditch attempt to appease voters who may use their local vote to give the national government a bloody nose is a wise political manoeuvre.
On the bright side, Labour managed to avoid Unison withdrawing their resources for election campaigning yesterday following a heated debate between members who thought it an irony that they were supporting Labour through the union's political fund when the NHS was being "ripped apart", as one delegate described it.
Mr Burnham may be ruing his decision to accept the invitation to Brighton for what may be the worst kicking of his political life.
