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would like to take advantage of this in below. d me 10 copies of Socialist lead OFFER For a offer The occupation of St. Columba's hospital, a small terminal care hospital on the edge of Hampstead Heath, was officially begun last Monday.

The hospital is under threat of being closed by Kensington, Westminster and Chelsea Area Health Authority within less than three weeks, and from the moment the closure was announced, the workers in the hospital, mainly NUPE members, expressed their determination to fight the decision.

At Monday's meeting, the staff formed an occupation committee, with NUPE steward Tom Dykes as its secretary.

They also passed a resolution to the NUPE Executive demanding that they give full and official support to the occupation, and official backing to any strike action taken in local NUPE branches in defence of the hospital.

• This followed a meeting of the local district health joint shop stewards committee which resolved to call mass meetings in their branches and argue for strike action if any attempt was made to close the hospital.

Support has also been given by the Emergency Bed Service COHSE branch, who have played a vital role in keeping the EGA open, and by ambulance workers, who have pledged not to cross the picket line and remove patients.

Support strong

It is obvious that support for. the occupation is very strong and the fact that the fight was already being taken to the London Division of NUPE, the NUPE NEC and Westminster Trades Council will make it very difficult for the trade union leadership and local, labour leaders to ditch the struggle.

It will also create problems for the collaborationist policies of the Communist Party since David Treisman, who is secretary of Westminister Trades Council, also sits on the AHA which is trying to close the hospital!

Given the strength of the resistance to the closure which has been added to by the fact that local GPs are likely to continue referring patients, it is now vital that the hospital occupation committee for all. continues to give a strong lead in defending St. Columba's.

Committee The occupation committee must meet regularly to keep the hospital staff fully involved in the fight and a public meeting must be called to raise funds and organise local support.

The bureaucrats on the AHA have already been delayed in attempts to close two other hospitals in the area, due to the resistance of the local JSSC and they are now desperate to make drastic cuts in health spending.

Cuts such as these will continue unless the public sector union leadership is forced to lead a national campaign of socialist revolution. strike action to defeat the Callaghan government's policy of social service cuts and cash limits.

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Leaders of the National Union of Journalists reaped the whirlwind • of their betrayal of the • sacked Nottingham journalists at the weekend.

Less than two months ago Mike Bower, northern organiser for the NUJ, witch-hunted calls to keep the national pay strike going until 28 members on the Nottingham Evening Postsacked for taking part in the An indication of the reaction o the call was seen in the fact hat delegates from Bristol had een mandated to vote against une day strikes.

Bristol was one of the power louses of .the saven week lational strike and had voted I/most unanimously to stay on trike in January until Nottinglam journalists were reinstated.

Other chapels showed imilar switch in policy which had come about through the NUJ leadership's turn away *from industrial action by the membership.

Now when that same leadership attempted to turn the tap back on-without explanation for the switch-the pipes were frozen.

One day strikes in themselves are ineffective. They were a permissible policy in this case, to the extent to which they were being i used NUJ provincial back into the fight.

Nottingham journalists sitting in the meeting walked out in disgust and disappointment after the vote.

The meeting went on to vote in support of a motion calling • for a one-day strike of the entire NUJ-a vote which has little meaning but was used by to bring the membership reinstatement the platform to claim that the meeting was not a disaster. : / The reinstatement of the Nottingham members is still on the agenda.

But tirst the members involved and their supporters have to recognise that before the battle against the employer can be won, the obstacies in the leadership of the trade unions have to be faced and overcome.

Faith in. an NGA/Slade campaign of blacking of advertising is futile.

Done nothing

The leadership of those unions have done nothing in six years to counter the Nottingham Post's anti-union stance and will do little now. paper may have helped the sacked workers' morale but it has done nothing and will do nothing to win reinstatement.

Mass action Only mass action by the membership will . do that. Strikers must visit provincial paper chapels to put their case to prepare for a call for an all-out strike to force the Nottingham Evening Post to take the sacked journalists back and recognise the union.

As George Miller, one of the sacked members told the reating:

"It's not a million miles away if this bloke wins. It's coming to your door. It's going to be new technology and

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The Poisoned Well