Striking For Health!

Today marked a great start to NHS workers efforts to prevent the ongoing running into the ground of our country’s vital and unique health services. After 30 years of refusing to take strike action, workers across the country took a momentous step this morning by striking for four hours in their campaign for fair pay. With industrial action continuing this week with unions urging all NHS staff to take the breaks they are entitled to — or refuse to do planned overtime in the ambulance service.

Despite the foul weather, matched only by the foul-play of successive governments – think Labour PFI schemes and the Con-Dem’s hated Healthcare Act – picket lines were strong across the city. I had the fortune to stand alongside workers based at the General Hospital before racing off to work.

This is the second time this year that public sector workers have been forced into taking co-ordinated strike action in an attempt to end the pay freeze, which in real terms has meant their pay has been cut by 16% since 2010. However in order to win this battle this latest strike alone is unlikely to make the government back down, and so it should be seen as a stepping stone towards building for a 24-hour general strike.

Already it is apparent that the government is ignoring the plight of both the NHS and its priceless workers. As a national representative of the GMB union pointed out:

“It is disingenuous of the Secretary of State to state that a 1% rise in pay will give rise to job losses. GMB has consistently campaigned for a fair funding settlement for the NHS which should include funding pay rises for essential staff. GMB has consistently campaigned for the Treasury to plug the funding gap so that much needed NHS jobs are not put at risk. In addition GMB has consistently opposed spending £3billion that has been wasted by this Government on a top down reorganisation GMB are calling on the Treasury to step in to resolve this current pay dispute…”

As a way of continuing the discussion about ending low pay in Britain, the Leicester Socialist Party is organising a public meeting on Wednesday 22nd October at 7pm titled “A strategy to defeat the cuts – one day general strike.” This event will be held at the King Richard III pub on Highcross Street in Leicester.