A March with No
Socialist Press1976 1976-05-05Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 4 →
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No less than four national officers of Health Service trade unions are to make up the panel of speakers at an Oxford demonstration "Against Unemployment and Cuts in Public Investment" Ine march, called for Saturday 1Sth May, is the brainchild of the Stalinist/right-wing dominated Health Service Joint Trade Union Committee.
FOOD It offers no demands, no programme, no perspective to workers. But the official leaflet, issued by Pat Ward, extreme rightwing chairman of the local NOPE Hospitals Branch, does attempt to attract hungry trade unionists with a promise of food! He writes:
"If your members would like a light meal or refreshments, could you let me know the numbers"
Small wonder such local bureaucrats are attempting any trick book to drag along extra p eople.
BLOCK
The march was originally called as an attempt to block the successful Trades Council demonstration. against the cuts, which mobilised 200 trade unionists and which put forward a full programme of action in defence of the Health Service.
Not only did none of the rightwingers and Stalinists organising the May 15th march attend the Trades Council demonstration - but they did everything they could to sabotage it and keep hospital workers from attending.
Unsuccessful attempted sabotage of that demonstration was to be only the prelude to the complete inaction by the NUPE leadership as consultants throughout the Oxford hospitals struck for two days in defence of private practice.
BLATANT
In doing nothing to combat this blatant provocation, the NUPE leaders, who control the majority of ancilliary grade workers in the Oxford Area Health Authority, showed their complete willingness to accept any attacks or cuts planned by local management.
Despite the bankruptcy of its leadership, we call on all members and supporters in Oxford to support the demonstration on May 15th and to fight on it for our clear demands:
*No to all cuts - for a sliding scale of NHS spending!
*Open the books of the AHA to elected union committees!
*Ban all private practice nationalise private clinics, integrate them into the NHS.
*Strike action to prevent cuts!
DRIVE OUT
To win any of these dem ands the first step must be to out the allied forces of right wing and Communist Party that are consistently betraying the figl social worker who actually interviewed and arranged to employ a male assistant - only to find he was to be paid £400 more than her, and that since her job carried increased responsibility her pay could not be affected by the new Acts!
FRAUD
The tribunals are thus already exposed as a fraud from start to finish. There • is such a wealth of loopholes and interpretations of the law that it offers only nominal rights to women workers.
The real fight must centre on the struggle in the trade unions for industrial action to win equal pay and against discrimination.
If necessary this will. involve fighting the decisions of the tribunals which, as an arm of the state, are designed, like other industrial tribunals, to maintain inequality and not to advance rights.
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