On our campaign stall we also collected signatures to support them and presented them to the doctors to add to their collection. Comrades' support was warmly received by doctors present and it was generally a really positive event that showed what unity can achieve.
The strike ballot was really impressive. It would have allowed national action even under the Tories' new laws that attempt to repress trades unionists and suppress our efforts to take action to defend ourselves. At last week's Unite the Resistance conference, junior doctor and BMA activist Yannis Gourtsoyannis spoke to explain the reasons for the action and the urgent need for solidarity:
The campaign was very popular with the public and at times there were queues to sign and take support selfies for Twitter. Unless the DoH backs down, the junior doctors' plan of strike action is as follows:
- Emergency care only – 8am, Tuesday 1 to 8am Wednesday 2 December 2015
- Full withdrawal of junior doctors' labour – 8am to 5pm, Tuesday 8 December 2015
- Full withdrawal of junior doctors' labour – 8am to 5pm, Wednesday 16 December 2015
It is important for comrades to show solidarity on picket lines if at all possible - details will be posted on the blog as soon as they are known.
This fight is only the latest provoked by the Tories as they seek to dismantle our public services in order to open them up to be run for profit - it is not enough for them that working people are paying for the crisis they and their class caused by having our wages held down, epidemics of underemployment and the cutting of the services which we rely on, they want themselves and their cronies to be able to profit from whatever services we are able to use. This is a fight that needs our full support - it will be a real victory for working people across the country and expose the weakness of this nasty party that managed to get the support of less than a quarter of the population in the election this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment