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From The Socialist newspaper, 8 September 2021
Whipps Cross hospital workers reject the 3%
Workers protest st Whipps Cross Hospital, east London, photo Isai Priya (Click to enlarge)
Lily Douglas, Waltham Forest Socialist Party
80 plus Whipps Cross hospital workers, Unite members and Socialist Party members came out in protest against the humiliating 3% offered pay rise for all NHS workers on 25 August. The Tory government left the NHS completely unprepared to handle the Covid pandemic through austerity cuts, bed shortages, and their campaign to privatise the health service.
Instead of providing proper PPE, they chose to clap once a week for the hospital's brave sacrifices. By putting profit before people, the government has time and time again abandoned the NHS. And the Labour party under Keir Starmer is not doing any better, standing by the Tory regime.
The protest outside the hospital was lively and energetic, with music playing and chants of "you say cut back, we say fight back!" Many took our leaflets and discussed the importance and need to fight for a 15% pay rise instead of the laughable 3%. We also put forward the need to campaign for a nationalised NHS and care system for all. The seven speakers set the tone for all the NHS protests around the country, highlighting the mood that none of us are going to back down from this fight.
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In The Socialist 8 September 2021:
NHS and social care
NHS and social care - make the rich pay, not the workers
Workers shouldn't pay for health and social care plans
End service cuts and care charges
Families demand rights for care home residents
Whipps Cross hospital workers reject the 3%
What we think
A pivotal moment for the trade union movement
Socialist Party news and campaigns
Socialist Party national council - members enthused by excellent in-person meeting
Why I joined the Socialist Party
Education
Union action needed to make schools Covid safe
Fighting NEU leadership needed to tackle school funding crisis
Schools funding crisis fails vulnerable children
University bosses push through pension cuts proposal
9/11 twenty years on
9/11 and the 'War on Terror' twenty years on
Workplace news
Bexley bin workers win big gains after six-week strike
Equity protest to save arts centre forces talks from Newham Council
DWP: Demand safe working and more jobs
DHL workers to strike against wage theft
Youth Fight for Jobs
Organising to defend our future: 9 October- Youth fight for jobs day of action
Building Youth Fight for Jobs in the South West
International news
Libya - ten years after Gaddafi's overthrow
US Supreme Court refuses to challenge Texas abortion ban
Keep fascists out of Portland: Build a mass movement to fight the right
Readers' opinion
Socialist change, not climate change
Vigil: A nuclear sub murder mystery
Obituary
Obituary: Roger Henshaw, comrade and class fighter
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2021