Hospital ancillary workers, amongst the lowest paid and least well organised, are preparing to smash any deal concocted by the TUC and the Government. Strikes by T&G hospital branches in Bristol and Gloucester carlier this month have sent ripples of militancy through hospitals up and down the country and the Bristol demand for E8 hacked up by threat of strike action has been taken up by workers in Manchester, Basingstoke, Exeter, and Wales. In London an Allance of Stewar's for. ealth workers (L.A.S.H.) has be . set u •for this purpose. Union leaders (T&G, G& 4, NUPE, and COHSE) are going to the negotiating table on 27 October with a miserable claim of £4, which for many workers whose take home pay is only E14 will barely restore their real earnings of 1970, let alone take them off the bottom of the wages ladder (127th out of 129). Union officials justify this treachery by saying they had no indication that their members would back up a better claim. But militants from all over the courtry will be outside Alexandra Fleming House (venue of negotiations) on Friday to call their bluff. In reality the official claim was only as high as £4 on the basic rate because the inefficient N.H.S. management have not yet been able to come up with the productivity deals so eagerly awaited by the officials. The recent token strikes have had the important effect on ancillary workers of proving to them they can take industrial action which rapidly causes chaos in hospitals without endangering patients lives. Thus the management's cynical exploitation of workers' devotion to the patients to maintain appalling wages and conditions will no longer work. But we can still expect "public opinion" to be whipped up by hysterical propaganda from government and the mass media. To counteract this it is vital that other health workers do not scab and the real public, i.e. trade unionists, students, etc. give them meaningful support. In particular local authority and power workers who are about to take action must unite with their more vulnerable brothers and sisters in the hospitals.
NOTE T&G: Transport and General Workers Union. G&M: General and Municipal Workers Union. NUPE: National Union of Public Employees. COSE: Confederation of Health Service Employees. The Red Mole 30 October 1972 Page 2