On Tuesday eleventh March 2014 I attended two protests, the primary at Parliament in opposition to a change within the legislation on closing hospitals, and the second calling for a dwelling wage for cleaners at Chelsea Faculty.
Cease Hospital Killer Clause 119 – Parliament
Unite, GMB, the Save Lewisham Hospital marketing campaign and different hospital protest teams protested exterior Parliament in opposition to Clause 119 inserted to alter the legislation over hospital closures into the Care Invoice, which was having its third studying within the Home of Commons.
In 2014 the Excessive Court docket dominated that well being minister Jeremy Hunt had acted illegally in proposing a downgrading of maternity and A&E providers at Lewisham hospital as a result of the neighbouring Queen Elizabeth Hospital Woolwich was going bust.
So Jeremy Hunt determined to alter the legislation, and inserted Clause 119 into the Care Invoice to provide the particular directors overseeing an English NHS Belief in monetary difficulties powers to shut, merge or alter the providers at every other hospital to steadiness the books with none correct session or regard to the social and well being results.
It was a measure which went fully in opposition to the entire concept that native folks and native GPs can be in command of well being providers in their very own areas, one thing which had been acknowledged to be on the centre of Tory/Coalition well being insurance policies. The native commissioning teams it says can be on the centre of native well being provision could have completely no say over what occurs to the providers that they fee when this clause is invoked.
Although many noticed these native teams fairly as methods to make the persevering with means of passing the NHS over to personal firms simpler than offering any actual native management.
Clause 119 was a panic measure drafted in a match of pique after Well being secretary Jeremy Hunt was defeated in his makes an attempt to raid the thriving Lewisham Hospital to satisfy the massive PFI money owed of another hospitals in South East London. The try to shut Lewisham with the deterioration in providers for the folks within the space gives a transparent and apparent instance of why actions of this type ought to stay unlawful.
Lewisham’s closures had been stopped by highly effective native opposition which introduced medical doctors, native councils, Millwall Soccer Membership and the entire area people out onto the streets – and likewise making donations to allow Hunt to be taken to the courts. And brought once more to battle his unsuccessful attraction in opposition to the unique choice.
The protest on eleventh March 2014 started with a interval of silence to mark the dying early that day of RMT Common Secretary Bob Crow. Audio system on the rally included a member of the Shadow well being workforce, different MPs, guide Jackie Davis of the Nationwide Well being Motion social gathering, Rachael Maskell, Unite Head of Well being, and a number of other NHS activists together with Jill from Lewisham and Sandra from Charing Cross.
Cease Hospital Killer Clause 119
Pay UAL Cleaners a Dwelling Wage – Chelsea Faculty of Artwork
A brief stroll down Millbank, simply previous Tate Britain, took me to UAL Chelsea Faculty of Arts the place GMB and the College of the Arts College students’ Union had been calling on the Faculty to make sure that their cleaners, employed by Bouygues Vitality & Providers, are paid the London Dwelling Wage.
The cleaners had been then being paid on the nationwide minimal wage, which for these over 21 was £6.31, lower than three-quarters of the London Dwelling Wage, calculated yearly by the Higher London Authority, then £8.80 per hour.
The protesters went to name on Vice-Chancellor Nigel Carrington, who after a couple of minutes got here out to speak with them. He informed them he thought that that they had some good factors, however that he didn’t make use of the cleaners and couldn’t grant them the dwelling wage. He additionally stated that he cleaners had been paid extra then there can be much less cash to spend on different issues, together with the scholar programs and provision.
The protesters responded that many organisations insist that contractors pay the dwelling wage to all staff, and that contracting out of providers is solely a strategy to exploit staff – paying decrease charges and giving them worse circumstances of employment – whereas preserving the establishments fingers clear.
They had been informed they might go in to the workers discussion board assembly as long as they put down their banners, placards and megaphones, and the scholars determined to take action. The remainder of us left.
Pay UAL Cleaners a Dwelling Wage
Tags: Bouygues, Care Act, Charing Cross, Chelsea Faculty of Arts, Clause 119, cleaners, match of pique, GMB, Hammersmith & Fulham, hospital closures, Hospital Killer, Hospital Regulation Change, unlawful closure, Jeremy Hunt, Jeremy the Vulture, Maintain our NHS public, Dwelling Wage Protest, native commissioning teams, London, London Dwelling Wage, minimal wage, Nigel Carrington, outsourcing, peter Marshall, PFI money owed, privatisation, protest, Save Lewisham Hospital, Save our NHS, workers discussion board, College students’ Union, UAL, Unite, College of the Arts, Vice-Chancellor
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