AS PART OF the brutal government attack on our N.H.S., 20 health trust bosses across the southwest have met behind closed doors in an effort to slash spending. After shelling out £200,000 in taxpayers money to form a ‘consortium’, they have reached a decision. Will they be taking a hit from their pay? Will they be standing up to a bullying government hell-bent on destroying and flogging off our N.H.S. to the highest bidder? Nah, of course not! As usual, the savings will come straight out of the pockets of hard-working nurses and other healthcare workers. In a leaked document, the bosses’ consortium is suggesting a range of far- ranging attacks on pay and conditions , the worst of which include whopping 15% pay cuts, reduced pay for unsociable hours, reduced sick pay and slashed holiday time for frontline staff. Not in a mood to take this lying down, healthcare workers across the west have been holding huge workplace protest meetings, with one hospital in Bristol seeing 250 workers turn up. The meetings led to a huge protest in Bristol, which saw 1,500 healthcare workers and supporters hold a noisy, colourful and well-received march under the banner ‘unite the resistance’ – a great slogan to show that the fight for the N.H.S., and workers’ rights is all of our fight.
While rank and file workers on the demo were obviously up for a scrap, and pushing for action, it now remains to be seen if union bosses will get properly stuck in. While the unions have played an important role in protecting rights at work, T.U.C. bosses have shown themselves too willing to roll over and give up when confronted by a government determined to shaft us. Think back to the pensions debacle – with millions of workers champing at the bit to get properly stuck in to the Con-Dems, the T.U.C. managed one day of token strike action before calling workers back into work and urging them to accept the same deal that was on the table before the strike! The T.U.C. bosses want us to bide our time and wait for a Labour government – who, despite their rhetoric, are still pledged to massive spending cuts – to sort it all out for us. Well, even if Labour had the guts to stand up for ordinary people (unlikely), health workers can’t wait. The N.H.S. is being dismantled now, and to save it, workers, service users and the community who value the commitment and hard work of frontline staff will need to organise themselves, using tools that will beat back the bosses – wildcat strikes, direct action, protests and occupations – with the union chiefs when they’ll fight, without ‘em when they won’t! But, if the huge, determined crowd at the demo can carry that energy back into their workplaces, it looks likely that the N.H.S. bosses will have a serious fight on their hands, and one they’ll live to regret picking!
