S H N r u o e sav d privatisation n a s t u c p sto
T
he ConDems are wavering over their plans to privatise and cut the NHS but now we have to knock them out. If we don’t, the greatest gain for workingclass people will be demolished by Cameron, Clegg and Osborne’s rich friends in the private sector. Their proposals would extend and deepen previous Tory and New Labour governments’ policies that brought the privateers more and more into the NHS and undermined its original ethos of being a comprehensive health service, free at the point of use, funded by taxes and publicly accountable to elected representatives locally and nationally.
The massive 500,000 plus strong TUC anti-cuts demonstration on March 26th has shaken the government and forced Cameron to put Lansley’s plans on hold but any version, however watered down is unacceptable. We have to continue the fight not only until the ConDems totally back off but also against the job losses that are happening on an almost daily basis.
on the ground. Nearly 900 London Ambulance workers face the sack as do thousands of NHS workers throughout the country.
The ConDems want us to pay the price for a crisis caused by the bankers. They say they can’t afford a decent health service because of the deficit but the NHS was created after the war when the country was in a far worse financial The Bill may have been put on ice position. It was the pressure of in Parliament but the cuts are still the organised working-class that biting and threatening health care made that happen and its still the continued over...
www.stopcuts.net www.shopstewards.net PO Box 54498, London E10 9DE
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potential power of the trade union movement linked to the millions of patients and communities now that can force the government to back down now. Today’s demonstration is an important rallying point in the campaign and a national demonstration would increase the pressure. The NHS is an emotive issue for ordinary people who with a lead would fight to defend it. Hundreds of thousands have fought
to save local services over the last couple of decades. But a real strategy of strike action, starting with health workers and reaching out for support to the wider union movement would really put the ConDems in the corner. The Unite health workers national committee have asked for a strike ballot to defend public sector pensions and link up with 5 other unions. Even the RCN at their conference recently also agreed to ballot on this. This can put the pressure on the biggest
health union Unison to follow suit. The NSSN has written to the TUC to co-ordinate strike action against the cuts. As a practical start, all workers whether they strike against pensions or not should demonstrate in every city on June 30th, when 800,000 workers could be on strike. This would lay the basis for a 24 hour general strike against the ConDem cuts and to defend the NHS that would shatter this government of the millionaires.
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• Stop the cuts – for a fully funded publicly owned NHS • End all privatisation through GP consortiums or other methods • Return privatised services to NHS control. Publicly fund and integrate them with the rest of the NHS • For united action to defend the NHS, defending every health job – up to and including strike action by health unions