Tory hands off our Health Service!

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WOMEN - a majority of the population, living longer than men, and facing the burden of caring for relatives for whom theré are no hospital beds - have many reasons to

be especially concerned at the new round of health cuts now biting home in every area.

But women who expect the official union leadership to spearhead real action to oppose the cuts and defend jobs and services will often be sorely disappointed. Time and again up to now union officials have held back, isolated and defused struggles against the cuts: and have only been forced into action by, initiatives at rank and file level.

One cuts campaign setting out to give such a lead is that of the Manchester Joint Shop Stewards' Committee, which has just published a free bulletin spelling out the dangers of cuts planned by the North West Regional Health Authority, to create the basis for a coordinated fight back.

During last year's campaign many health workers were saying that much more than pay was at stake, The future of the NHS was at risk.

Hospitals would close; jobs would go; private contractors would take over services; profitable parts of the NHS would go to private hospitals.

Health workers were afraid for their future, and for ours too. That's one reason why they fought so hard for their just claim, why they found so much public support, and why other workers were willing to strike in solidarity.

The future has come. As the pay campaign was ending, the North-West Regional Health Authority put plans for cutting 250 beds from St Mary's, the Manchester Royal Infirmary, and the Eye Hospital. And now catering, domestic and laundry services are under threat of privatisation. It's happening on the Wirral, in Leeds, Oxfordshire...

Deterioration

Women's health care will certainly deteriorate with the loss of 48 gynaecological beds at St Mary's. Already women in the Manchester area are having to wait months for d&c's and hysterectomies.

Central Manchester has a large black population, whose health needs are already neglected by the NHS - as éven government studies have confirmed.

As usual, women and black people bear the brunt of the cuts.

But health workers in central Manchester want to resist the government's plans, and they want our help. Last year's pay claim was defeated. This time, defeat would be fatal. And if Central District are left isolated, they will lose.

We have to make the cuts a live issue in housing estates, factories, factories, coom resent it other hospitals throughout the vaulteds region. In the end, we have to be ready to demonstrate, occupy threatened wards, and to strike in defence of the NHS.

That way, we can win!

THE Regional Health Authority's plan was originally leaked to the press by a consultant whose beds were threatened. Immediately the Central District Joint Shop Stewards Committee SSC, involving stewards from all the unions) tried to call a mass meeting.

in struggle

'The JSSC was one of the few things we got out of the pay dispute. We didn't really have time to sit back and worry ourselves sick over the defeat, it just happened so quickly. We were ready to go, and I think we had a fair amount of experience then gained from our three or four months.

We tried to get a mass meeting, something we'd done throughout the dispute to keep our members informed about forthcoming actions. One of the ideas we had was to go down and picket Gateway House, the Regional HQ, when they were going to take the final decision on bed closures. Anyway it's important to keep members informed.

We approached management and management turned around and said, 'oh well, we don't rustration recognise you. Why do you think SUrE staff. you represent staff?' This was kind of surprising, because all the way through the dispute, can't be fought by health workover sectional action, they'd ers alone, they need support been talking to members of the trom other workers who use the JSSC.: health service During the pay So, we still haven't had our claim, Central District were admass meeting. What we have oplea s by their local Telecom had are a couple of public meet- depot, and made otner ings, organised by the Commun- contacts: ity Health Council. I think the CHC have got a tremendous ing, transport, the buses; we amount of resources we can use, seemed to get a really good and perhaps closer links than response off mainly the other the JSSC with community nationalised industries. If they groups and also people within show us the same sort of rethe Health Service, officials. sponse they did in the pay negoBut as far we as trade un- tations and we get a bit of a betionists are concerned, it's a ter response off nurses and staff political issue and a political actually in the NHS _ it's their fight. The cuts are directly or fight - then I think we should indirectly coming about because do better than we did last time". of government cuts, and just VAr HANDSHAKE. fate WE cause further loss of morale; 'ON DUTY' is a play, produruse of i wore for he reed prin ced by the Black Angels Theatre Project, based on the experiences of a black woman The cuts in Central District shop steward in a London hospital fighting closure.

It opens on April 18 at the Carlton Centre, Carlton Vale, Kilburn, and will also be appearing as follows:

April 19: Carlton Centre. "Dockers, miners, engineer- April 20 & 21: Factory Community Centre, 107 Mathias Rd, Islington.

April 27: St Matthews, Brixton.

April 28: Tottenham Community Project, 628 High Rd, N17.

April 30/May 1: The Fac(Porter, St Mary's) tory, Chippenham Mews.

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BY Anna Lunts