Ambulance Dispute 1989-1990

Ambulance workers enjoyed unprecedented levels of public support during the six-month dispute as opinion polls found more than four out of five people consistently backed the unions.

Successive Gallup polls for the Daily Telegraph found even a majority of Conservative voters felt Health Secretary Kenneth Clarke should come up with more cash as he took the brunt of the blame for the disruption to patient services.

Electors said they would even be prepared to pay a little more income tax to fund a deal, while other health service staff, including nurses, disclosed that they would not demand an equal pay rise if ambulance crews and control room staff were awarded more than the going rate.

Such sympathy was evident daily by the millions of pounds that filled the buckets
thrust forward by the ubiquitous, fluorescent-jacketed ambulance staff that became as much a part of shopping centres as Boots and McDonald's.

TUC General Secretary Norman Willis told how would-be queue-jumpers were ordered to the back of the line while he waited patiently to add his name (no doubt again) to the record-breaking petition.

All good stuff for the unions but, of course, it was never ordained to be so, as previous disputes involving NHS workers in the 1970s and early 1980s demonstrated.

This time round the five unions involved COHSE, NUPE, TGWU, NALGO and GMB — paved the way for their own success by breaking new ground with a slick public relations campaign that went further than any previously used by a workforce during a dispute.

The initiative was seized with a strategy that had its effect on the wider world of statements and actions worked out, instead of merely addressing the troops, and realised the importance of newspaper, radio and TV in getting a message across.

Once a groundswell of public opinion had been generated, every opportunity was taken to portray the crews and not the Government as the patient's friend and to hammer home a simple message.

Initiatives were repeatedly launched to make the running rather than merely provide reaction which, by staying one step ahead, often wrong-footed the Government and kept the Departmental of Health on the defensive for much of the time.

Frequent press conferences, a national demonstration, the petition, a quarter-hour of action and even a hunger strike kept the dispute in the public eye when it might have been forgotten.

The unity displayed by the five unions and the absence of what for the NHS used to be traditional in-fighting, rivalry and factionalism allowed a united front to be displayed which forced journalists to look towards the Government for splits and divisions.

In that vein, tasks were allocated to avoid repetition and confusion. NUPE's Roger Poole, the chief negotiator, became the public voice and was constantly in the media, modelling a new hair cut and a businessman's suit to look as well as sound the part.

Meanwhile, COHSE's Bob Abberley beavered away behind the scenes in Parliament to put crucial political pressure on Ministers which was as important.

Several years ago everyone would have been clamouring to appear on TV as they jockeyed for status and, no doubt, future members. Now a trio of those involved, COHSE, NUPE and NALGO, could end up merging — partly as a result of the demonstration that they can work together.

The two immediate goals of the dispute

— a substantial pay rise and new pay machinery — were constantly pressed home in simple, relevant terms by the unions, while other issues such as local bargaining and privatisation which the public would either not understand or have less sympathy with were left in the background.

Opinion polls showed that the ambulance worker-supporting public did not know what the Government's offer was or how the pay mechanism demanded would work. But what they did believe was that crews were worth more, and the new system would just about rule out future industrial action.

The employers, on the other hand, varied their official spokesman between Kenneth Clarke, NHS chief executive Duncan Nichol, and David Rennie, who chairs the employers' side on the Whitley Council negotiating body, with the result that apparent differences of opinion were interpreted as splits.

In many respects the unions' public relations campaign set a model for others to follow and established standards by which they will be judged in the future.

The strategy was not entirely new, although the effective use of the latest communications technology which meant Poole and Abberley could always be reached for an instant quote did break new ground.

After all. National Union of Railwaymen General Secretary Jimmy Knapp
projected himself very successfully last summer as the passengers' friend in the confrontation with BR over pay and bargaining rights by hammering home a simple message and making it relevant to the wider travelling public rather than limiting the dispute to the interests of his members.

And the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions hired a PR firm with close links to the labour movement to get their message across in the shorter working week campaign.

But the five national negotiators, dubbed the "famous five" for the way they often appeared together and even started wearing matching overcoats, took PR a significant step further.

The dispute was right for the tactics. Ambulance workers had a reasonable it not a good case and have a high public profile because of the life-and-death nature of the job. The timing of the dispute was also right in that the polls had already started to move against the Government, which the unions were able to capitalise on.

Flashing blue lights and 999 sirens provided excellent TV pictures in particular and the service has something of a glamorous image for outsiders.

Further, crews used to dealing with the public in high-pressure situations adapted
well to the glare of TV lights and, judging by the number of local stunts launched,
actually liked the media attention.

Running a similar campaign on behalf of other low-paid groups such as ancillary workers — however deserving — will not be as easy. But the lessons are there and should be learnt.

Splits and in-fighting in the union camp would have been reported. Violent picketing and clashes with the police would have made attention-grabbing TV pictures. Disputes will be covered in the form they occur. It's up to the unions how they want to run their campaigns, but if it's public opinion they want on their side, they could do worse than copy the ambulance workers.

Kevin Maguire is the Daily Telegraph labour correspondent.

He writes here in a personal capacity.

COHSE Journal May 1990

NOTES

In my experience, this was undoubtedly one of the best led strikes in the NHS, the ability to use the media and the discipline of local Ambulance union reps and members was key to winning and maintaining public support.

The hub of the dispute was undoubtedly London and West London in particular most notably Park Royal, Feltham, Twickenham and Hillingdon ambulance stations.

Crews in Birmingham, Merseyside and Dorset were also very strong

The tactic of slowly increasing pressure on employer (overtime bans, emergencies only etc) forced the management in frustration to effectively “lock out” ambulance staff by refusing to send any calls to these stations and bring in the Army.

The Crews responded by occupying the ambulance stations as they did at Hillingdon, the management being forced to issue injunctions, but with little effect.

Elsewhere, in the country, Ambulance management in many areas did not follow London’s tactics and the crews remained at work, allowing them to secure even more support and money for those “locked out”.

Nine weeks into the dispute the Health Service Journal reported that an estimated 27 out of 44 ambulance services were operating a 999 only service.

Kenneth Clarke’s remarks that ambulance workers were little more than “professional drivers” totally incensed the crews.

On January l3th 1990 75,000 attended a TUC national demonstration in support of the ambulance workers and on 30^th January a day of solidarity, when South London bus drivers came out on strike.

While the dispute was not a total success, the public was confident the unions had rightly won and gave a big fillip of confidence to NHS trade unionists.

Roger Poole was an excellent public speaker and with a CP background understood the need to keep both the public and the members on side. Bob Abberley became know as “Rogers bag carrier” and Jeanette Roe COHSE Regional Officer did Stirling work with Pete Marshall COHSE Regional Secretary in galvanising COHSE members in London.

As the ambulance service had been initially part of Local Government( London County Council) most staff in London were members of NUPE 70-80%. However COHSE had from 1964 built up a small but significant membership based around the leadership of Bill Dunn at Hanwell, West London (The other key COHSE branch being at Park Royal)

The Ambulance dispute started October 1989 – March 1990 and lasted six months

The Great Ambulance petition secured 4.5 million signatures

Pictures of the Ambulance dispute in Hillingdon (Marion Way NUPE Ambulance Steward) in Uxbridge town centre collecting signatures, on the front line at Hillingdon ambulance station, lastly army ambulance at Hillingdon Hospital

Local Pay (1991)

LOCAL PAY TAKES CENTRE STAGE
Chris Hart argues that COHSE should welcome the challenge of local pay bargaining
COHSE Journal May/June 1991

The Time when health workers will sit across the table from their managers directly negotiating for their pay and conditions of service is not far away.

Although they talk about keeping to existing arrangements for the next 12 months, the new Self Governing Trusts (SGTs) will introduce their own pay bargaining. And, with the Nurses' and Midwives' Pay Review Body under threat and the Government's expressed desire to end the Whitley system, a clear move away from national bargaining emerges.

Once the national system is smashed within the trusts — the hospitals and units that have opted out of health authority control — it surely will not be long before the newly established directly managed units follow.

National bargaining has been fiercely defended by all health service unions in recent years and many trade union officials have viewed its loss as a blow from which we would never recover.

But what will the implications of any changes be? The Whitley Councils are our current national negotiating bodies, made up of national officials and some lay members from all the unions who have members in a particular occupational group in the health service and of management representatives. They predate the NHS and were originally seen as a means of, amongst other things, by-passing militant local shop stewards' committees.'

The new NHS and Whitleyism seemed suited to one another: consensus between employer and employee were an ideal that, after all, everyone apparently wanted. While industry was wracked by serious and damaging disputes, the NHS was relatively quiescent, despite nurses' periodic threats to take action as they saw their levels of pay slipping further behind that of other workers.

Whatever consensus there was, however, finally shattered in the early 1970s. The Whitley Councils were cumbersome, remote bodies, and criticised by some in the union movement and management alike who viewed the relationship between civil servants and national officials as too interdependent and cosy.

In hospitals, staff working more closely together became increasingly aware of pay differentials, and resentment was stoked by large pay rises for medical staff and, at the other end of the scale, the introduction of incentive bonus schemes (IBSs) for ancillaries, who were facing tougher, industrially oriented managers, conscious of the need to contain costs and push for greater "efficiency". With their own stewards now directly engaged in negotiating for their wages, more ancillary workers became unionised.

Industrial unrest spread throughout the service with dispute following dispute, affecting almost all disciplines, doctors included. It peaked with the massive nurses' victory, led by COHSE, in 1974 but also included several major disputes involving ancillary staff.

The massive upsurge in trade union membership and activity at the time of the introduction of IBSs perhaps provides the closest parallel with contemporary events. For the introduction of local pay bargaining undoubtedly presents COHSE with the greatest opportunity to improve the lot of its members and increase membership it has had in years.

The Government, in seeking a hardline managerial solution to a serious problem (the NHS, as Europe's largest employer presents them with an enormous wage bill: it increased by 25 per cent in 1974 as a result of wage settlements), has shot itself in both feet.

The introduction of local competition into the labour market comes at a time when demographic changes will favour both trained nurses and untrained workers equally.

Of course, there are problems to been overcome, and these should not be minmised. Hospital managers, whether in trusts or not, will try to recognise "staff associations" rather than unions. They will also almost certainly try for no strike ideals with organisations like the RCN, promising better pay for a few staff on higher grades while bringing in more lower graded posts, but — and this is a big but — they will only be able to do that if COHSE members are willing to allow them to. For the first time, the actions of health workers, whatever occupational group they are in, will directly affect their pay, conditions of service and their position in the organisation.

The fierce competition driving hospitals will mean they cannot afford to fall behind their rivals in the contracting world of the new white paper because their staff are in dispute; nor can they hope to sack groups of skilled workers and replace them quickly if there is no agreement on terms.

Another major factor is going to be the inexperience of NHS managers in negotiating. The vast majority have had no training and lack an understanding of the principles involved and knowledge of the factors around which such crucial negotiations will take place. Furthermore, the old management trick of doing nothing and remaining intransigent will no longer work in such a situation: good managers, or those who recognise and accept the changed circumstances in which they find themselves, who are willing to look at the real issues and negotiate around them, will attract staff and retain them.

There are possibilities that managers will try and overcome these shortcomings by bringing in paid consultants to do their negotiating for them, or by setting up regional or district wide cartels, which will try to set and impose localised pay levels. But outside consultants will not know all of the local labour market factors, nor have the in-depth knowledge about who they are up against, locally, that is needed. And managers seeking to impose their will across a geographical area will, again, only be able to do so if branches are weak and disorganised, and lacking a network of links and contacts within their own union.

Fundamental and important changes will occur in COHSE as well. No longer will members be looking for things to be sorted out by a largely mythical "Head Office" or "leadership" who are too far removed from the local situation and trapped within a democratic but, there fore, necessarily cumbersome bureaucracy to meet the needs of those members who want action. The balance of the relationship between the local branch, region and head office will shift, with far greater emphasis to the branch and its members, which can only be good for the democratic process within COHSE.

Paradoxically, although branches will inevitably become much more independent, the respective roles of region and head office will increase in importance. For they will have to supply accurate, up to date information, which would include:

• Pay comparisons with health workers in other districts/regions;
• Pay comparisons with other appropriate occupational groups;
• Rates of inflation and other financial factors.

For their part, branch officials will need to find out:

• Complete breakdowns of staff, grade by grade;
• Local earnings and employment factors eg rate of unemployment, new intakes of student nurses and the number of those about to qualify;
• What the hospital's budget is and how much of that goes on pay.

Regions can also distribute information about tactics used in different areas.

Educational workshops based on bargaining issues will, obviously, keep activists up to date with the latest techniques and promote communications with colleagues in nearby branches. Supportive action will benefit not just the branch that receives it but others in the region as levels of pay are pushed up.

Undoubtedly, it will prove a great test for COHSE. Especially as a strong, logical and well developed case put across skilfully by fair union negotiators will very often not be enough. The arguments will be won by negotiators who have a tough, disciplined trade union branch behind them, who bind their success to its democratic processes, going back to the membership, involving them in every stage of the negotiations. By necessity, the branch will have to be prepared to stand behind their officials and negotiators and be ready to take action if and when the time comes.

If and when the new union becomes a reality it will, of course, only add to the strength of the workers in their pursuit of a fair wage. In fact, particularly in the trusts, there is every incentive for COHSE members to join with staff in NUPE and NALGO to begin the process of working together to co-ordinate claims and negotiations.

Local pay bargaining is about to usher in a new era for health service trade unionism. If we are prepared to grasp the challenge it could prove to be a very rewarding one

References:

1. John Lister, Cutting the Lifeline (1987) Journeyman Press, London.
2. Nick Bosanquet (ed). Industrial Relations in the NHS (1979), Croom Helm, London.
3. Rudolf Klein, The Politics of the NHS, 2nd edition (1989), Longman, London.

NHS 50th Anniversary

Scottish Medical Aid for Cuba

THE Scottish Medical Aid for Cuba Committee was set up in 1995 to help Cuba protect its medical services from the economic crisis affecting the island.

Since then this small charity has grown from strength to strength and now provides a permanent source of aid.

The charity is twinned with the Escambrey region of south-central Cuba. Before 1959 this mountainous area supported a dispersed rural population engaged primarily in coffee and subsistence fanning. Living standards were very low. After the revolution, road building and development projects formed small modem communities with schools and social amenities and a network of hospitals and clinics providing free medical care for all.

It is to this network that Scottish Medical Aid is twinned via the health authorities in the municipality of Fomento which administers to family doctors and clinics throughout the region. The charity sends two shipments of medicines a year that are directly requested by this authority.

As a recognised Scottish charity (SC 028979) Scottish Medical Aid for Cuba is able to claim from Inland revenue the income tax on donations

The charity purchases its medicines from Echo International health Services, itself a charity dedicated to supporting developing countries that provide low-cost health care to their citizens.

Brian Pollitt, Faculty of Social Sciences, Glasgow

Frank Cave - NUM

FRANK CAVE

A Life of Celebration

Gary Fabian pays tribute to Frank cave, Vice President of the National Union of Miners (NUM) and friend of Cuba, who died on January 8^th 2002 after long illness. (Frank Cave centre).

FRANK died at the young age of 59. Frank's life is a "life of celebration". As a young man he played cricket for Yorkshire many others of his generation, he left school at 15and stated work at Brodsworth colliery. The pit employed 3,000 men, tragically this is more than employed in the whole of the Yorkshire coal field today.

Like all members of the NUM, Frank began his life on the coal face. A young miner full of the desire to create change, both in the mining industry and in society.

Change for his members, change for workers nationally and internationally. Frank played a prominent role during the 1984/85 miners strike.

He became the Yorkshire President in 1982 and was subsequently elected as assistant General Secretary in 1990. Frank also served on the Yorkshire area NUM Executive Committee and was their chair until his untimely death. Whilst NUM members will remember Frank for his contribution to the union, many other trade unionists will remember his international commitment.

Frank was truly an international socialist. Indeed it was on the international platform that I first met Frank. In 1996 the first world conference for Cuban Solidarity

took place in Havana, Cuba. Cuba Solidarity Campaign (CSC) trawled sympathetic trade unions asking them to join the delegation.

The delegation was led by Ken Gill Chair of Cuba Solidarity Campaign (CSC) and supported by many trade unionists, political activists and an MEP. To say that the trip to Havana was ill-fated is an understatement. The dozen or so intrepid travellers met at Heathrow airport and boarded the plane, only to touch down in France and find that the plane was not air-worthy.

Following a confrontation with the airline our party were finally given seats of a plane to Venezuela. The pretext was that a second plane would take us on to

Cuba. Not the case. We arrived at Venezuela to find the plane had left without us and to all intents and purpose we were stranded in Venezuela for the next few days.

As good trade unionists and socialists we demanded accommodation in a manner and style to which we were accustomed. The Hilton Hotel no less ! The airline company acceded accustomed to our request and we settled in for the night.

The next morning our thoughts turned to how exactly, could we get to Cuba in time for the conference? Insider information told us that the board of directors of the airline in question were meeting at the hotel on that day. The plan was clear, we would make representations to the meeting.

Skilfully working our way to the meeting room we burst in the door and Frank shouted at the top of his voice:" We demand a plane to Cuba and we won't leave the room until we get it!" Finally our party did reach Cuba we attended the World Conference and Frank presented Fidel Castro with a Waterford crystal clock from the NUM.

Frank's determination to get to Cuba was only matched by his determination to support the Cuban people. Frank clearly believed that the political system in Cuba was far superior to the one in this country and stated that to all who would listen and some who wouldn't wouldn't.

Labour's Action Plan for theNHS 1991

LABOUR’S ACTION PLAN FOR HEALTH
By Robin Cook MP, 23rd September 1991
(shadow Secretary of State for Health)

THE FIRST TEN STEPS

1. Halt the opting out of hospitals and other units in the second (if before 01/04/92) and third waves

2. Sign the orders bringing back those hospitals and other units that have already opted out

3. Re-name the department, Department of Health and Community Care and appoint a Minister of State with the sole responsibility for care in the community

4. Instruct all hospitals to scrap all tow-tier deals on waiting lists and admit patients in order of medical need

5. Restore the right of GP’s to refer their patients to the hospital of their choice and stop health managers blocking referrals to hospitals where they have not placed a contract

6. Set the terms of reference of the Quality Commission for the health service

7. Declare a moratorium on the privatisation of geriatric services pending a review of the need for public provision for long term care of elderly people

8. Start negotiations to remove the pressure in the GP’s contract to increase patient lists, and fix a lower maximum on patients’ GPs

9. Set up a task force to tackle waiting list black spots

10. Appoint new members of health authorities who represent their local community, live locally and use the NHS

also other points which included

ACTION TO HALT PRIVATISATION

21. Set up an enquiry into weather there is a link between length of waiting lists and the amount of private practice

22. Halt further contracts for the construction of private commercial wings on NHS sites

23. End compulsory competitive tendering in the health service and introduce quality standards for ancillary services

24. Notify private insurance companies of the withdrawal of tax relief for private medical cover

Women's Reserve Ambulance - World War One

Evelina Haverfield nee Scarlett was born in Scotland on the 9th August 1867. On her marriage to Major Henry Haverfield she moved to Devon, Caundle Marsh, Dorset and later Peace Cottage, Brendon, North Devon.

She accompanied her second husband John Blaguy to South Africa, where he was in the military. Her sister Ella Scarlett- Synage) a doctor, was also in South Africa working with Millicent Fawcett in monitoring the British Concentration camps for Boer prisoners and their families.


On her return to Britain, Evelina Haverfield became a prominent suffragette, initially involved in in the West of England National Union of Women Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) she joined the Women's Social & Political Union (WSPU) 1909 and became secretary of Paddington branch of the WSPU in 1910.

Her horse riding skills were used to great advantage by the suffragettes when tackling mounted police and in providing mounted horse escorts for suffragette events.

She was arrested for her part in the suffragette "Black Friday" on 18th November 1910 an accused of assaulting a police officer, on her arrest she was reported as stating that " next time I will bring a revolver".

A year later, 1911 she was sent to Holloway jail for two weeks for her part in suffragette disturbances on 21st November 1911

By 1914 she had joined Sylvia Pankhurst's East London Federation becoming its treasurer.

It was during her suffragette work that Haverfield came into contact with Vera Holme, who would later become her Lesbian partner.


During World War One Haverfield was appointed Commandant in Chief of Women's Reserve Ambulance (Green Cross Society) in August 1914, but left after a disagreement and became involved in the Scottish Women's Hospital in Serbia from 1915.

She spent the rest of her life fighting for the rights of the Serbian people

Evelina Haverfield died on the 21st March 1920 of pneumonia in Bajina Basta , Serbia, and is buried in the local cemetery, later a children's health centre was named after her in the town.

Picure right of Evelina's grave (Thanks to Tom Allan)

Doctors Picket 1912

Doctors Picket

Middlesex County Council

24^th December 1912

For the first time in history the role of pickets was adopted by medical men at a meeting of Middlesex County Council Insurance Committee at Caxton Hall, Westminster on Christmas Eve. \the gather was attended by practioners willing to work the Act and the medical men had to run the gauntlet of members of the British Medical Association, who buttonholed every one and with all the zeal and persistence of a trade union picket, endeavored to dissuade them from attending the meeting. It was called for the purpose of a conference between members of the sub-committee and Middlesex doctors with regard to points left open for decision under the r3egulations and model forms issued by the Insurance Commissioners. After the Chairman had explained the object of the conference, the members of the committee withdrew, leaving the medical men to discuss between themselves the course they should adopt.

When they returned to the meeting, the committee were informed that the medical men had unanimously decided on the capitation method of remuneration.

A small committee of eight doctors was appointed, with whom the sub-committe might confer next week, in regard to other matters of detail under the Act.

The doctors present came from all parts of Middlesex and it was stated that those present were quite satisfied that there would be little difficulty in establishing panels throughout Middlesex
The pickets had a circular printed copies of which they distributed in those going to the meeting

In the course of an interview Mr. Glyn-Jones MP said that when he reached the hall he found about a dozen doctors mostly dressed in frock coats and silk hats in the vestibule of the hall.
"they asked if i was a medical man he said "and they urged me not to attend the meeting when it started they demanded to go inside. I told the leader they could go on the same terms as the other doctors- by signing the card”. They then said they had succeeded in keeping forty-five men outside. I asked them what right they had to keep forty-five men out and themselves demand to come in. Someone else suggested that according to their own circular they could not enter without losing their honour and professional unity. The pickets were very persistent and followed the doctors up the stairs. Mr Ben Smith, a member of the committee who is connected with the Cabdrivers Union was very merry at their expense. He himself was wearing a badge and remarking that it was illegal for them to do the work of pickets without wearing the badge of their union, offered to lend them his own. His chaff created much amusement

January 1913 Uxbridge Advertiser

First time the British Medical Association (BMA) used Pickets

NOTE:
Benjamin "Ben" Smith

Lived in Acton had obviously been co-opted to this

Middlesex County Council sub committee,

Born 29th January 1878. A former taxi driver (previously horse drawn cabs). his boyhood was passed on the Warspite training ship and later served in the Navy and Mercantile Marine. He was later one of London's first taxi drivers

Ben Smith lived at 29 Birkbeck Avenue, Horn Lane, Acton. and was active in "many committees in Acton".

He was Organising Secretary of the London & Provincial Union of Licensed Vehicle Workers Union)and then later United Vehicle Workers (formally the Cabdrivers union), later still the TGWU

Benjamin "Ben" Smith was elected on 8th March 1919 as the first Labour Middlesex County Councillor for Hayes, West Middlesex

Labour Member of Parliament for Rotherhithe 1923-1931 and 1935-1946

Died 1946

----------------------------------------

Polyclinics YES

Private Companies NO

Groucho Marx on Race Hate

Groucho Marx
How To Fight Race Prejudice

30th October 1946

The following is the text of a speech delivered at a "Justice for Palestine” demonstration on the steps of the Los Angeles City Hall. It is reprinted from the New York Daily Worker.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


I KNOW that I'm supposed to begin a speech like this by saying that I'm happy to be here. Frankly, I'm NOT happy to be here, I wish there were no need for this meeting.

Since there is a need, and a very vital one, I can only wish that I might speak with more authority than is commonly vested in what is known, in my trade, as a broken-down comic.

I mentioned this matter to the people who asked me to appear here. I told them I didn't think this was the proper occasion for a funny-man. They agreed. And they added, a little too heartily, I thought, that they didn't think I was at all funny.

As a matter of fact, my being asked to come here does have something to do with comedy. I've devoted quite a lot of time lately to public attacks against the ' stereotyping of various groups of Americans by my fellow actors and writers on the stage, screen and radio. I'm referring to those performances we've all seen and heard in which the American Negro is pictured as a chicken-stealing, crap - shooting, booze – guzzling vagabond; or the American Jew’s portrayed as a crafty charlatan who worships nothing but gold and is unable to speak his native tongue without a ludicrous and revealing accent; or the Latin-American is characterised as a shiftless, ignorant ne'er-do-well, or the thousand and one other slanders that have cast a shadow at some time or other over virtually every racial and religious group that makes our nation into the great, unified power that it is.

Of course, I am painfully aware of the irony that any of my performances are given by members are given by members of the very race or religion that suffers from it. That’s why I am in favour of the resolution being advanced here today recommending legislation against prejudice. I'm all for education, I also know that education alone is not enough.

Many of those actors and writers who are constantly and quite unintentionally prejudicing public opinion against races and religions have been educated. They know that no special group has a monopoly on money, crime cowardice or evil.

What they don't know is that the little social differentiations are used scientifically by ruthless men who know the dollars and cents value of fomenting inter racial and inter religious strife.

Adolph Hitler was able to achieve power in what was one of the most enlightened countries in the world, by singling out a scape-goat. He could not have succeeded had there been laws, and enforcement of those laws, against prejudice.

YES, education is important, but too much of it is being disseminated on a full-time basis by those who peddle the wrong kind of education, by those who for their own shady self-interest are trying to set one American against another, one European against another European, one Asiatic against another Asiatic—and all against each other.

The way to deal with these men is the way civilisation has always dealt with criminal activity—by due process of law.

Racial and religious prejudice is no longer a vague unsporting indiscreet social error, gradually dissolving as the good-will of mankind progresses. A way has been found to make it a political weapon against all of us.

The creation in the world of an atmosphere free from racial and religious antagonism is not merely an abstract ideal to be achieved by abstract education. It is an absolute necessity for all of us; regardless of whether we are or are not personally suffering from discrimination at the moment. It is plain self-interest, plain common sense, for every human being who loves peace, security and freedom and I believe that includes most of us.

I think that point is best illustrated by a dream related to me not long ago by a priest with whom I was discussing this subject. He dreamed that all the Jews in the world began to believe the rumour and superstition and propaganda that has been circulated against them. They became convinced they were responsible for all of the world's troubles, and they were so mortified that they decided to remove themselves from the world. They committed mass suicide— all but one lone American Jew who had been unconvinced.

THIS one American Jew was gratified to discover, after all his brothers had vanished, that the world was pretty much in the same spot that it had been in when the Jews were in it. There still seemed to be plenty of trouble to go around.

But then people began saying it was because this one American Jew' was left. And they began saying it so often, and in so many different ways, and believing it so desperately, that even he began to wonder. It seemed to him that the only sporting thing for him to do was to commit suicide and give the world a chance. So he left town, went out into the country to a mountain he knew, and began trudging up the steep slope to a cliff from which he proposed to leap.

On his way up, however, he passed two men coming the other way engaged in a very violent conversation. It seems that one of the men was saying to the others: "Don't get me wrong, Joe—some of my best friends are Catholics! "

……. My friend, the priest, tells' me that he doesn't know whether the Jew jumped off the cliff or went back down the hill, because when the priest heard that crack about Catholics—he woke up.

Daily Worker, December 9th 1946

GLC Nurses Social 1986

Jo Brand

Region 18 (COHSE Region 6 London and COHSE Region 12 South Yorksire & East Midlands)

Famous COHSE social held at Leisure world, Bridlington Monday 25th June 1990. During COHSE Conference week 1990 25th June to Friday 29th June.

Night out for Rebels and Reds
Cabaret
Comedy act Jo Brand (COHSE nurse member at the Maudsley hospital, London and then staring in Saturday Night Live), Skint Video, Rebels with a cause and Disco

Probably one of the best COHSE socials ever, certainly with Jo Brand one of the most controversial, which led to formal complaints about her act, as she turned effectively on right wing, sexist delegates who had attended in error. Infact it was the last joint regional social, such was the outcry in Region 12

Pete Marshall and Bob Quick Regional secretaries

Socials were always a very important part of COHSE conference as Regions tried to out do each other to have the best

Other socials at 1990 COHSE conference included

Region 2 Yorkshire & Humberside Disco Mountbatten Club

Region 1 Northern Disco The Captains Table Restaurant, cliff Road

Region 10 Wales Music Night with Raymond Williams and Gareth Pickford

Most nights COHSE delegates ended up at the harbour lights Disco

22 September 1982

Wednesday 22 September 1982 was one of the largest acts of solidarity in the British trade union history, with millions on strike and a national rally in London with 120,000 taking part. There were demonstrations in the following towns (not full list)

Aberdeen 12,000

Inverness 1,000

Elgin 500

Lerwick 400

Oban 100

Stornaway 500

Dundee 10,000

Edinburgh 10,000

Kirkcaldy 2,000

Glasgow 20,000

Dumfries 1,000

Newcastle 5,000

York 1,000

Sheffield 10,000

Barnsley 1,000

Leeds 6,000

Hull 4,000

Chesterfield 3,000

Manchester 2,000

St Helens 2,000

Liverpool 20,000

Bolton 2,000

Blackpool 400

Wigan 5,000

Leek 300

Coventry 2,000

Gloucester 500

Hereford 400

Swindon 1,000

Milton Keynes 1,200

Cambridge 2,000

Colchester 1,000

Braintree 100

Norwich 2,000

Kings Lynn 300

Harleston 500

Fakenham 100

Southampton 1,500

Bournemouth 1,000

Eastbourne 500

Yeovil 1,000

Belfast 3,000

Derry 3,000

Armagh 300

Ballymena 200

Enniskillen 350

Swansea 1,000

Aberystwyth 200

Rhondda 500

also many rallies/marches in London ie Hackney, Hillingdon

Thornton View Hospital Occupation

FORTRESS THORNTON

THE THORNTON VIEW HOSPITAL OCCUPATION

The occupation (Work-in) of Thornton View geriatric hospital, Bradford, began over a year ago, on 5 August 1983. During the NHS debate at this year's Labour party conference nurses and supporters of the occupation draped a banner from the gallery proclaiming, "Save Our Hospitals". This action lead the chair, Eric Heffer, to observe, "I hope the state does not move against them as it has against the workers at Cammell Laird".

Labour Research examines the background to this long running occupation.

Thornton view Hospital is an 82 bed long stay geriatric hospital located near the village of Clayton, just outside Bradford. In the past few years it has had wanted to save £700,000 by shutting down two hospitals, one of which was Thornton View. During the year long campaign, prior to the occupation, the substantial amounts of money spent on it by Bradford DHA. For most of the elderly patients at the hospital it is their home. Aged 65 to 95 years they have been at Thornton View on average for 7 years. 

Bradford DHA had many letters of protest sent, a petition of 30,000 including 55 GP's and the support of the Tory, Liberal and Labour groups on the District Council together with lobbies and demonstrations — all to no avail.

So at 8.30pm on Friday night 5 August 1983 a bold, and well planned, occupation began, made official by both NUPE and COHSE within the first week.

Whilst the main purpose of the occupation was to protect the rights of elderly people with no power (studies have shown that within 6 months of the closure of St. Benedict's geriatric hospital (after an occupation by staff) in South London some 30% of the patients had died), the fight was also to save 95 NHS jobs. As COHSE steward Betty Elie stressed, "We're not stupid, we know that once this hospital closes we don't stand a chance of getting new jobs".

WORKERS CONTROL

 

As long as there are patients in the hospital legally workers legally workers cannot be locked out or lose pay during occupation of NHS premises. Thornton View is the only hospital occupation to exclude management. The occupation committee of nurses, domestics, porters, local GP's, relatives, other trade unionists and members of the local community joined together to organise every aspect of the struggle at Thornton View Hospital.

They have upturned the management structure by running the hospital themselves. Most importantly, it has forced a political consciousness on the Bradford Community Health Council, and the District Health Authority who refuse to accept that whilst willingly acting as agent of the government they are also being political.

 

It is now 20 months since the Health Authority decided to close Thornton View, and they still have not been able to implement that decision, despite the announcement on 11 April 1984 of the minister's decision to approve the closure. That in itself is a major achievement.

HELP

Because the patients are elderly the numbers are slowly dwindling (current number of beds occupied 45), there is a feeling that management are playing a waiting game and will use this as an excuse to close the hospital.

But the occupation is not defeated and the 17 August 1984 Occupation Bulletin (entitled Thornton View Forever) ends "On now to our 2nd Birthday folks". Money and messages of support to: Thornton View Hospital, c/o The Occupation, Clayton, Bradford.

LETTER TO SUPPORTERS

ALL GMC DELEGATES, WARD SECRETARIES, LABOUR COUNCILLORS - BRADFORD WEST. (1983)

URGENT: THORNTON VIEW HOSPITAL WORK-IN
YOUR HELP IS NEEDED.

As you are probably aware by now on Friday 5th August 1983 the staff at Thornton View Hospital beg a work-in to prevent the closure of this 82-bed geriatric hospital.

Because this is a work-in , it is VITAL that supporters from the local community take an active role in helping the staff "man" the picket-lines the staff cannot be

expected to work their normal hours (which are often very long as well as very exhausting), fulfill their family needs(most of the staff are women, several are single parents) AND ,then, Without outside help run four picket-lines

Bradford West Labour Party has held an emergency executive, at Thornton View and we are urging all are members as a matter of the utmost urgency to help on the picket-lines; the pink leaflet enclosed gives more details on this, as well as a contact phone-number.

We also decided:

(a)To ask all our members to support the demonstration on I0th September (leaflets enclosed) and to get signatures for the petition (copy enclosed)

(b) to donate £20 from the Constituency to Thornton View.

(c) ask ward secretaries, and trade union officials on g.m.c. to:

(i) contact their membership, where possible by phone, and inform them of the work-in and the vital need for their active support.,

(ii) arrange for financial donations, messages of support, etc. If you would like a speaker at the branch meeting the Occupation Committee will be only too

delighted to send one for this and any other information you require phone 882007 Extension 47

(iii) if possible, arrange a block booking i.e. a day and a time when you

can guarantee, and transport up to the picket-line 4/5/6 or more of your members on a regular basis.

At the moment University ward is taking Wednesday 6.45 pm. till 10 pm, 0dsal is doing Saturday 8 till 6 (a.m. to p.m.),Queensbury Tuesday 8 till 12 p.m., and Wibsey Thursday 8 till 12 pm. We realise that, practically ,its easier for block bookings to be in the evenings - the earlier the better i.e, 6 or 6.45 rather than 8.

THE OCCUPATION IS LIKELY TO GO ON FOR ANYTHING UPWARDS OF FOUR OR FIVE MONTHS: IT IS VITAL TO DRAW IN AS MANY PARTY MEMBERS(AND OTHERS!) AS POSSIBLE TO DO PICKET DUTY, EVEN IF ONLY FOR TWO, THREE OR FOUR HOURS A WEEK

The Tories are going to cut the health services to shreds - if we let them.

The Thornton View Occupation is the first major attempt to fight back since the General Election. Your active support is vital - please make every effort to support us.

Yours Fraternally

Reuben Goldberg (p.p. Lester Hall & Bradford West Executive.)
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Phone 882 007 Ext. 47

CORRESPONDENCE : THORNTON VIEW OCCUPATION COMMITTEE, c/o. The Resource Centre, 93, Little Horton Lane, Bradford BD 5

Note

Undoubtedly the key local person in Bradford to campaign and secure the logistical support for the Occupation of Thornton View Hospital was Alex Corina, Betty Elie COHSE Hazel Ward NUPE Nursing staff at Thornton View Hospital, Bradford.

Management should have been suspicious prior to the Occupation, as when nurses showed Alex Corina and Andrea C around the hospital they signed in the visitors book not only under pseudonyms but also with job titles that referred to "occupational health"

The first job of the occupation committee was to evict the Nursing Officer and examine the (confiscate) the files on the union in her office and make her office the occupation headquarters

The occupation prior and during the occupation always secured the support of the patients relatives

As with other hospital occupations their was always a number of pickets sleeping in

The picket was actually on the front gate halfway down the lane in a very cold and exposed site

The occupational finally ended in April 1985 - 21 months occupation