[Press spoke to Tom Dyke, NUPE at the…]

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Press spoke to Tom Dyke, NUPE at the threatened St. Columba's Caring for patients during Hounslow Hospital work-in (PUNTS TE Socialist steward Hospital, The Poisoned; Well Hampstead.

What is the background to the closure?

A document was put out in July announcing closures in the NW District of the Kensington, Westminster and Chelsea AHA -it was to be either St Charles, St. Mary's or Paddington Green Children's Hospital.

They have been unsuccessful with St. Mary's W9 so far, but they have succeeded in starting the closure of Paddington Green Children's Hospital and the Peter Pan children's ward at St. Charles Hospital.

Because of our resistance to closing St. Mary's and Hereford Lodge, they have been forced to look elsewhere, and that was when the closure of St. Columba's was announced. What was the reaction in hospital when the closure announced?

Surprise and shock at first. Everyone was very upset and there was talk of a fight against it straight away.

I immediately phoned my told her what happened, and on the following Tuesday we had a meeting at St. Columba's.

We then decided that we would not take any other jobs and that we would keep on working until we managed to organise some way to defend the hospital.

On the Tuesday night after the meeting the charge nurse and myself approached the CHC to get their backing.

We put our point to the CHC and the vote was won by a majority of 9-2 in favour of keeping the hospital open.

Since then I've been going to every joint stewards and union: meeting I could, to tell them: what was happening in St. Columba's.

We have finally managed to, get in touch with the NUPE full time official, Mr Eastwood, after a lot of trying, and he is coming down to a meeting on Monday to announce the occu-, pation. wnat nas ine support been le so far? about £1 million; but when we investigated it was down to E165,000! We would like to PHOTO: Laurence Sparham, IFL know where this money has gone.

What do you think the next steps are?

The occupation is going to be announced on Monday at a mass meeting and after that we will lock the doors and approach the ambulance convenors to get them to pledge not to take patients out.

We are also going to organise support for picketing the hospital from the other local hospitals.

The sacking of John Regan, militant NATFHE lecturer from West Ham College of Further Education, has been unanimously confirmed by the appeals committee, a subcommittee of Newham education committee and consisting solely of Labour councillors.

Since the Principal who originally suspended him is no less than NATFHE Executive member Eric Williams, secretary of Outer London Regional Council, feelings ran high at the last Outer London meeting, the AGM.

This meeting was attended by a number of full time officers including Tom Jones, Assistant Secretary, and in fact union chief since the recent death of Stan Broadbridge.

Throughout the past year the Stalinist leadership together with the right wing have narrowly held the majority in Outer London.

At this meeting, however, resolutions deploring the action of the Principal in suspending Regan without written warning and without due cause and calling on Newham Education Committee to reverse the decision were passed by Motion Inst • A further vote of no confidence in Eric Williams was only lost by one vote. Clearly a number of delegates, while prepared to attack Eric Williams for his behaviour as a manager, find the same behaviour