United Action Vital in Nhs Pay Fight

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last Labour government, as outpur per persun rust vy wages were held back. But an astounding 40% (21% then the decline continued. rise in output, 13% fall in In the second half of the labour force). In chemi1981, it seems, it was re- cals it rose by 14%, in versed. Gross trading engineering by 11%. profits after stock apprecia- These figures fit into the tion were 25% above their classic pattern of capitalist Sweeping conclusions. simply a misfortune for from such figures are dan- capitalism, but an essential gerous - later investiga- phase of its mechanism of tion often shows that the self-development (14th) al 2.30pm, one-hour joint union meetings are to be held in hospitals up and down the country. The hour is called a 'worktime meeting'; if it were called a strike, the hour might stretch into an afternoon or even a few days, and that is the last thing the bureaucrats want.

All the staff involved in 'direct patient care' are being told that they are not to attend the meetings and should stay in work. This formula is an attempt to exclude the nurses, who are the ones most directly involved in patient care, from taking any action at all.

Circulars

This is the first real action the union leaders have organised. The pay campaign started with circulars urging members to write to their MPs and lobby their area health authorities to By Martin Thomas by Martin get support.

This pathetic approach reached its anti-climax last month, with a cold, miserable and wet day's lobby of Parliament, which got about three lines of publicity in the press.

The only real action has been organised locally -like that in Manchester on March 23, when hundreds of nurses, domestics, porters and canteen staff struck for half a day to lobby the regional health authority.

This approach - uniting all the different grades of hospital workers - is in complete contrast with that NUPE and CoHSE leaders. They have tried, ever so quietly, to hive off the nurses and negotiate a separate deal around the 6.3% already offered them.

All NHS workers face the same rising prices, bigger bills, and low pay rises year after year. For the first time THE SLUMP works - after a fashion. That's the message from the latest figures.

Since the early 1960s profit rates in Britain (and, less markedly, throughout the advanced capitalist countries) have been drifting downwards. The Bank of England estimates that companies' real pre-tax return on trading assets fell from 11% in 1963 to 2.9% in 1980.

Profits recovered slightly for a short period under the previous stagnant levels. Barclay we can have a pay campaign which can unite nurses, ancillaries, and administrative workers.

The only way to go forward after Wednesday is to take strike action which unites these different grades, like in Manchester: The lead must come from the branches, but we cannot allow the union leaders to sit back and leave the action isolated.

Branches should send resolutions to their own union executives calling on them to push for united national strike action in the TUC Health Service committee. We also need resolutions to go to the Health Services committee itself, urging it to call on the constituent unions to support strike action as the only way to preserve our living standards and our health service against the attacks of the Tory government. first official estimates are misleading or plain wrong. But they fit in with the trend shown by wage and productivity statistics. Real personal disposable income fell about 3½ % last year, as wage rises were outstripped by inflation. And between the fourth quarter of 1980 and the fourth quarter of 1981, output per person employed in all production industries rose by 812%.

In metal manufacture trest nor norman men har slump. Slumps are not by Geoft Williams

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Crisis watch

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