Hannah Ponting, Liverpool Socialist Party
On 30 July, Socialist Party members attended a Unison demonstration of striking dispatch education workers from the North West Ambulance Service (NWAS). These workers play a crucial role in training Emergency Medical Advisors (EMAs).
One of the striking workers, Sairah, explained that some colleagues receive a 9% recruitment and retention payment on top of their normal wage, whereas others do not, despite doing the same job. The strikers are “just after getting a fair payment for all of us”.
Another striker, Chris, spoke during the demo, stating: “Let me be crystal clear. No educators, means no EMAs. And no EMAs means no ambulance service. It’s that simple.”
This disgraceful treatment of vital NHS workers is yet another stark representation of how capitalism as a system inherently prioritises profits over people. Essential services like this should be fully funded and staff well paid. This clearly demonstrates the urgent need to fight for socialist policies, in order for services to be run on the basis of need, not profit, in the interests of workers and the wider public.
