Hounslow Uno! Wor

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The leadership of NUPE, national and local, must be particularly pleased with their Hampshire day of action on June 1.

Local NUPE official-area officer Paul Dunn-claimed the one day protest to have 'made a significant impact' and to have been 'a great Although some sections, such as the 200 ambulancemen, took trial action (in this case by dealing with emergencies only) most Only 400 demonstrators, mainly students and teachers, marched through Southampton and the NUPE delegation was noticeably small (perhaps Paul Dunn's remarks related to this fact).

It is clear that the blame for this non-event lies with the union leadership. At a point when struggles are breaking out over the cuts and unemployment, the working class is looking for a lead.

NUPE were in a position to give a lead. For it was only six months ago, on their initiative that 80,000 workers demonstrated against massive unemployment and cuts in public services. Instead of building on the class strength and willingness to fight, the NUPE leadership embarked on a campaien desiøned to divide and demoralise the membership.

A brand new £25 million hospital, due to open next year, now stands to bring nothing but misery to the people of Oxford.

The hospital, which has taken five years to build, is the second phase of a massive scheme which was originally planned to extend the Oxford Health Service, with its main centre on this site.

Now the non-elected, undemocratic . Oxfordshire Area Health Authority has announced that it has no money to open the hospital unless it massacres the rest of the health service in the county.

Latest estimates say the 472bed hospital, planned to provide the major accident unit for Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire will cost £4 million a year to run.

But even to keep it closed will cost the health authority at least £300,000 a year in security, maintenance and minimal heating. That is : without putting in a single patient.

Anderson - "no support".

Neither the Oxfordshire Area Health Authority nor the Oxford Region has any prospect of finding even a fraction of this money out of its budget.

The government has refused to make a penny available. Equipment has now been stopped from going into the hospital.

The John Radcliffe II is designed to be the only hospital in the area open for accidents and medical and surgical emergencies 24 hours a day.

This is how the commissioning officer of the new hospital sees conditions in the present overcrowded Radcliffe Infirmary:

*Conditions in the labs and Xscandalously condemnable level. The technicians are having to eat their sandwiches off the same bench where they work on urine samples because there are virtually no rest rooms and washrooms close to the laboratories.

In the X-ray department radiographers trying to look at film are falling over patients in wheelchairs waiting to have their X-rays done).

The AHA is considering two alternatives: 1. Leave the hospital shut-probably for the next ten years or longer at a cost of more than £3 million. 2. Open the hospital and finance it by closing the Churchill Hospital (a large general hospital for chronic illnesses the Slade Hospital (infectious and skin diseases) and the Cowley Rd. Hospital (hospital for the old).

WORSENING

Either option means a drastic worsening of the health service. The old hospitals are inadequate without a major injection of funds.

The intention was not, however, to close these hospitals but to relieve the pressure on them. Out of the 470 beds at the John Radcliffe Il, 250 are supposed to be over and above what was already available. available.

Other parts of the health service in the county are also being hit.

In response to this what are the trade union leaders in the town doing?

Last week leaders of the National Union of Public Employees-the• biggest union in the local health service-called off the only action it had planned to take-a protest 'day of action' George Anderson, NUPE divisional officer and a member of the Communist Party (as well as a non elected member Authority), of the Regional Health claimed there was "no support" for the action.

Socialist Press has been unable to discover the slightest attempt by Anderson or any other NUPE officials to fight for action. The first that many NUPE members in the county knew of the day of action was when they heard it was called off.

Another appointed trade union participant in the AHA-Les Davispreferred not to face the bleak choice: "Let us have all the figures involved in opening even a quarter The new John Radcliffe Phase II.

TALIN But trade unionists and other forces determined to fight against the cuts are beginning to demand more than a glimpse at the figures.

ASTMS Health Service branchbacked by Oxford and District Trades Union Council-has demanded a trade union inquiry into the project. This inquiry must now press ahead Questions which should be asked include:

Why has the Area Health Authority been starved of money to open the hospital?

What further cuts are already being planned in the secret committees of the health service officials?

PRIVATE Why did the contract-originally estimated at £11.1 million increase to more than £16 million to the private building contractor alone?

Why were design blunders in the John Radcliffe Phase I repeated exactly in the Phase II building?

Above all what health provision should be made to restore all the cuts and expand the service to a satisfactory level?

Such an enquiry can become the centre of a fullscale campai against these massive cuts : Oxford, and will direct towards the key question of strike action to force à reversal of these policies at local and national level.

The ASTMS health branch is already on record as demanding the union launch national strike action to stop the cuts. This fight must be pursued by every health service union and backed by the local labour movement.

success.

Workers could be excused for wondering however:

services were hardly affected at all.

Hounslow Hospital workers have been in occupation for nine weeks in opposition to planned health cuts. Local NALGO branch chairman Carl Brecker outlined their struggle in an interview with 'Socialist Press'.

"Two years ago public expenditure cuts were announced by the government. When the last round of cuts was announced it became clear that the health service would come under attack.

NEGOTIATIONS Up till that time negotiations were conducted through the District Consultative Committee of the unions.

But at this point the unions pulled out and we began to build up an alternative structure, through the Joint Shops Stewards Committee. That was about 15 months back.

The next stage came when the COUNCIL Area • Health Authority told the District Management Team that the books would have to balance, and that there would have to be a saving on a standstill basis, of £717,000 in one year.

'Good housekeeping', "rationalisation', might save a possible £200,000. The remaining half-million would be accounted for by cuts in actual services.

For the first time the JSSC went onto the offensive. We launched our campaign.

The Area Health Authority told the District Management Team to come up with proposals. JSSC TON induspublic challenged these and put counter-arguments.

The proposals involved closi two hospitals-the Hounslow al Brentford-the Hounslow Che Clinic and two wards at the Sou Middlesex. A union defen committee was set up at each of tl hospitals. Their job at that tin was to monitor the situation their hospital.

We held meetings involving : staff members-union and 110 union. All the unions grew in ti period.

The next stage reached was tr realisation that what the hospil workers did could not, on its ow save the hospitals.

We launched the Save O Hospitals campaign through t Hounslow Trades Council and t local Council of Action. The Trad Council recognised that the prit attack on public services in this ar of London was going to be on t Health Service.

We took our campaign malgo PORTS NEW LASUNDE HOUNSLOW HOSPITAL STAFT WORK-IN As the rest of the area ca under similar attack, we set up Area Joint Union Committee.

At the end of the consultat period-on February 9-stewar hospital workers and indust workers took over the meeting the AHA.

As soon as the item came up the agenda we sealed off the do and prevented any furt discussion of the proposals.

The AHA postponed the cussion of the cuts until Febru 22, when they went into clo session and the decision for closu was made.

The Council of Action and Defence Committee met at 0: and resolved that they wO prevent closure.

Preparations for the worl took one to two months. We w into March before they were rea On 24 March the actual clos dates were announced. On March we announced the work We immediately organi meetings through the Council Action and the Defence Commi to explain what a work-in me This was a totally new conc tion at that time. We invi speakers along from the EGA : showed the EGA film. We b very heavily on the E experience.

The vast majority of the S signed the resolution saying they would not accept any tran from the hospital.

The Trades Council went to other West London Trades Cour and to the Greater London As iation of Trades Councils.

On 5 May NALGO made action official, and so on l 11 did NUPE.

The official date for closur 31 August. July and August wl the teally hard months. Picke starts from July 1.

The ambulancemen resolved not to move pati without the agreement of the j Shop Stewards Committee, and unions concerned have blacked disconnection of equipment."

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SOCIALIST PRESS, Wednesda Mussolini fell from power twice.

The first time was in 1943 when

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REPURAL UNIUN PUBLIC EMPLOTEES