Screws turned on Westminster strike

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Bureaucrats at the head of the January 22 Day of Action The solid strike against the victimisation of six domestics at the Westminster Hospital incurred the full weight of pressure not only from management but from top NUPE bureaucrats, TUC General Secretary Len Murray, and Labour government ministers.

Under these conditions NUPE branch secretary Jamie Morris conceded that the case go to ACAS.

Socialist Press spoke to Gillian Brear, a staff nurse at the Westminster and a NUPE steward, about the strike.

How did the strike develop?

The strike was weak from the start because it was a form of selective action.

The focus was taken away from the main issue-which was the pay claim-to the six domestics; so there was a lot of confusion amongst the members over what they were actually striking about.

Although NUPE gave the strike official backing, they added to the confusion by trying to keep the issue separate trom pay.

When the talks with management broke down, the full time official, Godfrey. . Eastwood pressured us to take the case to ACAS.

At this time, the porters and supplies sections refused to go along with this, and said that they were going to stay out over pay.

After this the strike seemed to be split two ways.

The branch secretary and NUPE were negotiating with the DHSS trying to • force management to go to ACAS, while we spent our time trying to keep the strike alive, by going round to the porters and supplies workers and bringing them onto the picket line. You went with some of the strikers to lobby the Executive of NUPE on Saturday morning. Pid this have any effect on the trike?

i I think it made the strikers Nise that the real culprits behind the confusion in our strike were the NUPE leadership.

We were asking Fisher and the other EC members why they didn't call for all-out action ove Jay marry i status actor what over that we policy of selective action which allows management to take th initiative and isolate sections of group of their own members on strike.

Fisher himself was prepared o have me escorted out of th otel by a police inspecto What did happen at the talks?

Well: the NUPE leadership promised all sorts of action it management would not go to ACAS-such as blacking every private patient's ward in the country and calling the whole of our district out on strike.

At one stage NUPE even threatened to sever its links with the Labour Party, and promised us that they wouldn't take it to ACAS!

Everitually, after almost 24 hours talks, management, under direct instructions from Ennals, did agree to go to ACAS and NUPE climbed down. These talks with ACAS are still going on.

What do you think of Jamie Morris' decision to send the case to ACAS?

He was obviously under enormous pressure. He was whisked off by NUPE officials and disappeared for over 12 hours.

While the union leaders, government ministers and AHA spokesmen all had 'hot line' telephone contact with the TUC, Callaghan and lay members, Morris was denied the chance even to telephone his branch members.

But even under such pressure he had no right to decide anything on his own-and no business negotiating under such duress.

Is there any action going on now at the Westminister over pay?

Yes. The supplies department are still out, and there's a chance that the porters might join them. • The porters are still refusing to service the private patients wing.

I think the important thing is that our strike. had a lot to do with action on pay spreading to other hospitals in the area.

We sent speakers to both the St. Mary's hospitals and they voted to strike from the following Monday, along with St. Charles' Hospital.

If this action continues, ! think there might be a chance of us coming out again, and this time on our terms-a strike against low pay:

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It was a lesson to all of us to see the hostility of the EC to

RUBINC-SERY END LOw