Nurses’ contingent, TUC demo 18.10.14, photo JB (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)
Kate Youngs, RCN Student Information Officer, Leeds University
Leeds Keep Our NHS Public and its supporters gathered outside the Leeds General Infirmary on 5 July and later outside St James University Hospital to celebrate the NHS’s 69th birthday.
Union members from Unison, Unite, Trades Council and RCN were all present with banners flying. The RCN handed out campaign postcards which are to be sent to MPs and badges handed out in line with its ‘Scrap the Cap’ campaign calling for the government’s pay restraint to be lifted from nurses, which has led to a 14% real time wage reduction for frontline staff since 2010.
Other issues were aired around the ongoing privatisation that sees vital services reduced and closed down across the country, leading to ineffective patient care and low staff morale.
