CRISIS Bethnal Green day of action called
Socialist Press1978 1978-07-19Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 10 →
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Address Workers occupying the Bethnal Green Hospital in East London, against the closure of the casualty department continue their fight.
They have now fixed 1st August as a 'day of action'. This has been backed by the Area Shop Stewards Committee and calls have been made for token protest strikes of up to one day's duration on that date.
The sympathy for the struggle in the local working class, and the fact (reported last week's Socialist Press) that ambulance drivers continue to deliver patients to the hospital despite contrary instructions, stands as an example of determination to fight the cuts made by this Lib-Lab government.
Total support
On the picket lines it is extremely rare to come across any response from passers by except total PRESS eiv to: Socialist Press, 31, Dartm ocialist Press, 3 Park Hill, London NW5 1HR Hill, London NW In factories in the area there has been a strong response to circulated petitions and appeals for finance. If. determination and support were sufficient guarantee of victory the Bethnal Green workers could stop worrying.
Not enough However, as the ruthless attack by management scabs on Hounslow Hospital proved, well-intentioned protests and sympathy, even among the broadest layers of the working class, are not enough to halt the drive towards destruction of the health service caused by the crisis of capitalism.
More important than ever now is the fight for the political mobilisation of the strength of the working class.
The fight to defend the Bethnal Green Hospital and the health service must take the form of a sharp struggle for all-out strike action in the health service.
This means a struggle .£1.10 .£2.20 . £5.50 £10.00 he against the union leaders who have not lifted a finger to use the enormous power of their organisations to defend the hospitals.
The August 1 day of action can be a step forward if the demand that all-out strike action be called in the event of any attempt to close Bethnal Green is raised and carried into the widest layers of the working class.
A fight must be taken up to drive out those union leaders who refuse to commit their unions to such action.
Starting point
In this way the hospital occupation movement can become a starting point for building a new leadership in the unions which can lead the struggle to force the opening of the books of the health authorities, the drugs companies and other parasitic firms as a step towards the establishment of socialist plan for the health service that can serve the needs of the working class.