Bristol BMA’s battle for better conditions
Last month, resident doctors took to the picket line again in their fight for pay restoration, better staffing and decent conditions. Revolutionary Communists in Bristol report on the mood on the ground.
Medical
NHS workers on the move: Strike together to beat Streeting!
Several unions representing NHS workers have come out emphatically against Labour’s poor pay offer. The next step is to unite strike action across the unions, with a mass campaign against austerity and privatisation, and for bold socialist policies.
BMA strikes back: The NHS needs a capitalectomy
Resident doctors are on the march again, after winning a strike ballot to resounding support. Strike dates are set for 25-30 July. This is a battle for the heart and soul of the NHS – to win, the BMA will need to pose a radical, socialist alternative to austerity.
How can students and workers fight the university cuts?
Universities across Britain are facing an onslaught of cuts, course closures, and redundancies. This is a harbinger of what is to come across the whole public sector. RCP members on campus are fighting back. Kick capitalism out of education!
Nurses reject government pay offer – the NHS isn’t safe in Labour’s hands!
Nurses organised in the RCN have voted to reject the government’s pathetic pay offer, which does nothing to address the years of wage erosion that NHS workers have faced. The stage is set for a new wave of struggle across the public sector.
Union update: Doctors’ strikes, security workers, and Royal Mail
In the current issue of The Communist, our comrades report on the latest developments taking place on the industrial front: from the junior doctors’ pay dispute, to strikes by G4S security guards; to the proposed billionaire takeover of Royal Mail.
Union update: Port Talbot, doctors’ strikes, and UCU conference
In the new issue of The Communist, our comrades report on the latest developments taking place on the industrial front: from events in Port Talbot, to upcoming strikes by BMA members, to the debates at the UCU’s recent annual conference.
BMA and binworkers join forces: Struggle and solidarity in Cardiff
Britain’s strike wave may have ebbed. But battles are still breaking out across the country, with junior doctors on the picket lines, and other workers taking action. Examples of solidarity in South Wales show the way forward for these struggles.
BMA strikes: The fight goes on
Having been strung along for months by the government, junior doctors have announced a new wave of winter walkouts. This determined action must be linked to a mass campaign across the trade union movement to kick out the Tories and save our NHS.
Unite the strikes to save our NHS!
Junior doctors are back on strike this week, as the Tories refuse to yield to their demand for full pay restoration. With other struggles in healthcare continuing, it is vital that the unions coordinate action to kick capitalism out of our NHS.
Nurses and teachers strike: Class struggle set to escalate
Teachers in the NEU and nurses in the RCN have recently resumed their strikes against the Tories’ insulting pay offers. Socialist Appeal supporters spoke to workers on the picket lines, where there was a fighting mood for escalation.
NHS strikes: Defiant doctors continue struggle as nurses reject offer
Junior doctors have undertaken another round of strikes this week, while other health workers have voted on the Tories’ insulting pay offer. To advance, the struggle in the NHS requires militant coordinated action and bold socialist demands.
NHS strikes: Reject rotten deals! For fighting union leadership!
Following backroom negotiations with Tory ministers, union leaders are recommending acceptance of a paltry pay offer for health workers. Grassroots members should mobilise to reject this deal – and demand fighting leadership and militant action.
BMA pickets: Junior doctors show determination to win
Midway through their walkout, the mood amongst striking junior doctors is one of confidence and enthusiasm. Tomorrow they will be bolstered by action across the public sector. The trade unions must unite and escalate their struggles to win.
Junior doctors strike back – Save our NHS with socialist policies!
Junior doctors organised in the BMA are striking this week, joining other public sector workers in the struggle for decent pay and conditions. Austerity and privatisation are killing our NHS. Only bold socialist policies can save it.
Nurses set to escalate the struggle: All out for victory!
Following several rounds of walkouts, and with the Tories refusing to budge, nurses are set to step up their strike action over pay and conditions. To win, health workers must unite with other unions and fight for a clear socialist alternative.
NHS catastrophe: Support the strikers! Kick out the profiteers!
The NHS is in the midst of a deep crisis. Chaos is unfolding in A&Es, with record-breaking wait times. This catastrophe has been a long time coming – the result of years of austerity and privatisation. But health workers are fighting back.
Ambulance workers strike – Fight for the NHS!
Striking ambulance workers are taking a stand against attacks on their pay and conditions. We spoke to workers at the picket lines, who are ready to fight tooth and nail for victory and the future of the NHS.
RCN strikes: Nurses show their strength
Nurses in the RCN have taken their first ever day of national strike action, to combat the severe crisis in the NHS. We spoke to nurses at picket lines across the country, who were determined to win their struggle against the bosses and the Tories.
Strikes in store as NHS catastrophe looms
The NHS is on the brink, with millions waiting for treatment, and winter set to pile on more pressure. Meanwhile, the Tories are planning further cuts. But health workers are fighting back, with nurses voting to strike. Save our NHS!
NHS crisis: Militant action and socialist policies needed
Rising temperatures and COVID infections this summer have once again exposed how fragile Britain’s healthcare system is. To tackle waiting lists, fill staff shortages, and save our NHS, the labour movement must fight for bold socialist policies.
Doctors demand a pay rise: Save our NHS with socialist policies!
Strike action by doctors could be on the cards, as part of a British Medical Association campaign for a 30% pay rise. This struggle must be linked to those of other health workers and striking unions – and to the fight for socialist policies.
Doctors Vote: Time to transform the BMA into a fighting organisation
Grassroots activists within the British Medical Association are looking to transform the organisation into a fighting union through the ‘Doctors Vote’ campaign. This must be linked to the struggle to save the NHS with socialist policies.
RCN to strike for first time in the North of Ireland
Nurses in the North of Ireland have faced attacks on working conditions, putting patients at risk. The Department of Health claims there is no money for pay increases, but the government found £1bn to bribe the DUP. We support this historic strike.
Nurses rage against union leadership
Grassroots members of the Royal College of Nursing have voiced their anger against their leaders, delivering them a vote of no confidence for their scandalous actions.
Rumbling in the RCN over pay deal scandal
Questions are being raised over the RCN leadership’s role in the rotten pay deal being presented to nurses and other healthcare workers.
Nurses need a fighting union – a reply to RCN leaders
Dan Langley, a nurse activist, replies to comments from RCN chief negotiator, Josie Irwin, who has attacked ordinary union members in order to justify accepting a rotten pay deal.
Open letter to RCN leaders: “strike whilst the iron is hot”
In his recent Budget, chancellor Philip Hammond made a weak and non-committal pledge to consider finding the money for a pay rise for nurses. Despite such mealy-mouthed promises, the Royal College of Nursing leadership welcomed Hammond’s statement. We publish here an open letter by several grassroots nurse activists, written in response to these events.
RCN Scrap the Cap rally: Just the beginning of the fightback
Yesterday, on 6th September, nurses descended upon Parliament Square in their thousands for a demonstration organised by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) to demand the pay that they deserve. Dan Langley, a leading grassroots nurse activist, reports on the mood amongst nurses in the fight against Tory-imposed austerity.
Scrap the Cap – scrap the Tories!
Today sees the “Scrap the Cap” protest in Parliament Square, with thousands of nurses demonstrating against the 1% pay cap that is currently imposed on those working in the public sector as a result of the Tories’ austerity programme. Dan Langley, a leading nurse activist, discusses the steps needed in the campaign against the cap.
Junior doctors support nurses’ struggle against Tory pay cap
After seeing their own struggle last year grind to a halt in the face of a hostile press and a vicious Tory government, the junior doctors have now declared support for other NHS workers, backing the nurses in their fight for decent pay. Nurses, doctors, and all workers: unite and fight to #SaveOurNHS!
Exploited nurses fight back with poll for strike action
Members of both the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Unison, as well as non-unionised staff in the NHS, are becoming increasingly frustrated with ongoing cuts in conditions and pay. As a result, for the first time in its history, the RCN is polling its members about their willingness to go on strike. Nurses, doctors, and all NHS staff: unite and fight!
Junior doctors fight continues after contract is rejected
After months of negotiation interspersed with strike action, junior doctors have now voted to reject the new contract that has been offered by the Tories. The government has gone ahead and said they will impose the contract. Junior doctors have stated that they will continue to fight.
Junior doctors prepare for round two: save our NHS!
Over the next week, junior doctors will demonstrate and strike in defence of their conditions and the wider NHS. We publish here a letter by a junior doctor, who highlights the importance of continuing the fight against the Tories. If you fight, you will win – militancy pays!
Doctors take strike action
British
doctors have gone on strike today for the first time since 1975 over
the government cuts to pensions. Unsurprisingly, this has been met with a
chorus of indignation by the Tories who have accused the doctors of
“penalising patients” by taking industrial action.
November 30th public sector strikes – Biggest movement since 1926
On November 30th 2011,
three million public sector workers will strike over the
government’s attacks on their pensions. This coordinated strike action
represents the biggest strike movement since the general strike in 1926.
To all intents and purposes it will be a 24-hour public sector general
strike. Unison have already announced a large majority vote for action.