was the front page of Wednesdays Daily Mirror with 17 hospitals on emergency alert and A&E units in crisis. The NHS is precious to every working class person in Britain. Decent health care for all is one of the biggest gains the workers movement ever achieved. But years of cuts and privatisation are now set to finish off the NHS unless we can stop the attacks. While the Tories are slashing our health service Cameron and Nigel Farages UKIP are ramping up the anti migrant rhetoric. But its the Tories and their Lib Dem buddies who are destroying our NHS, not migrants.
Delegations
Its brilliant that health unions across
England have called for strikes on 29 January (12 hours) from 9am and on 25 February (24 hours). Members of the GMB in the ambulance service will strike for 48 hours on 29 and 30 January. The strikes are over pay and the disgraceful fact that most health workers dont even qualify for the measly 1 percent that public sector workers are supposed to get. But the pickets and protests can boost the wider fightback to defend the NHS too. Every worker should be doing something to build solidarity for the health workers. You can take collections, send messages of support and in England build for trade union and campaign delegations to hospital, health centre and ambulance station picket lines. Other workers have announced that they arent going to simply wait for the election. In London 27,000 bus workers will strike on Tuesday 13 January to win negotiating rights for one rate for the
NHS pickets in central London in November
job across the city. At present there are
80 different rates of pay for drivers at 18 different private companies across the capital. We need a fightback because we cant rely on Labour to bail out our NHS or defend workers if they are elected. Ed Millibands attacks on Cameron over the NHS ring a bit hollow when shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has again committed Labour to Tory spending plans.
Greece
That will mean more cuts, more pay
freezes and more austerity. It means whoever wins the next election well be under the cosh. In Greece, a country ripped apart by austerity, the radical anti-austerity party Syriza look like they could win the
upcoming general election. There have
been huge strikes and protests in Greece. If Syriza is elected it would be a massive step forward for workers in Greece. It shows its possible to stand up against the cuts and get elected!
TUSC
We need that kind of radical alternative
here. The Trade Union and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) will be standing candidates across Britain in the upcoming general election, so will Left Unity. But we need a stronger more united left that can offer an alternative to the millions of people who are sick of austerity.
Rage Against Racism march
Saturday 21 March, central London.
standuptoracism.org.uk #m21
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