Vote YES to Unison ballot for strike action
Public sector unions must co-ordinate ballots for a united 1 day public sector general strike
Pat Lawlor, a health worker and Socialist Party candidate in West Belfast has attacked the main parties for “covering up detailed plans to carry out savage cuts to our health service” after a report thought to be commissioned by the Department of Finance and Personnel and the Department for Health came to light today.
Mr Lawlor added “This report was produced by McKinsey & Co – a US based worldwide management consultancy group, which was embroiled in financial scandals such as Enron and the jailing of a former director for inside trading on Wall Street. It contains horrific proposals to sack up to 18,000 health workers. The Assembly parties wasted £320,000 of our money on this report which should be shredded forthwith. Serious questions need to be answered by all the main parties. Why was this report kept secret until now? Why did the Assembly Executive pay a major company £320,000 to advise them on how to destroy our health service?
“The cuts which all the main parties are committed to making after the election must be met with mass strike action. I welcome Unison’s decision to ballot workers in education and health. This must include strike action, as this is now the only language the main parties understand. Other unions are also balloting for strike action against cuts. All public sector unions should now co-ordinate ballots and unite to set a date for a one day public sector general strike to fight the cuts.
“The Stop the Cuts Campaign and the Socialist Party will support strike action and will build support in working class communities for industrial action.
The decision by the Western Health Trust to cut nursing home places “is a direct attack on the elderly and the vulnerable” according to Domhnall O’Cobhthaigh, Fermanagh Socialist Party representative.
The education system is in turmoil. In November 2011 John O Dowd, the Sinn Fein Education Minister, announced that school budgets would be cut by £220 million, an 11% reduction over three years. This will have a catastrophic impact on schools.
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