Join us today!
Printable version
Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/1115/31794
From The Socialist newspaper, 6 January 2021
Hospital security staff on strike for £12 an hour
Royal Berks Hospital Strike, Photo: John Gillman (Click to enlarge)
Security staff at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading are continuing strike action, the next action taking place over 20 days throughout January and February.
The Unite members are striking to demand a rate of £12 an hour, more than affordable for the employer Kingdom Services Group, which has a turnover of more than £100 million.
Disgracefully, the bosses are employing agency staff to attempt to undermine the strike. Socialist Party members attended the picket line on the first day of this new round of action on Monday 4 January and will continue to support the strike.
Donate to the Socialist Party
Finance appeal
The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
Inevitably, during the crisis we have not been able to sell the Socialist and raise funds in the ways we normally would.
We therefore urgently appeal to all our viewers to donate to our Fighting Fund.
In The Socialist 6 January 2021:
Feature
2020 - a year which drove home the catastrophic failures of capitalism
Schools
Workers' action wins Tory U-turn on school safety
News
3 lockdowns, 20+ U-turns ... We can't trust the Tories
Nottingham City Council: Major battles against cuts ahead
UNICEF feeds children in the UK for the first time
Hospital security staff on strike for £12 an hour
British Gas workers on strike against fire and re-hire pay cut
NHS
Protect the NHS - Funding, Pay, PPE, Public ownership
Protect lives and livelihoods, fight to defend the NHS
Engels
Engels on the origins of women's oppression
Universities
Universities: refund the rent, cancel the fees, for fully funded, publicly owned education
University teaching moves online in England
Reader's opinion
Books that inspired me: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Technology and AI response: Capitalists only invest for profit
Home | The Socialist 6 January 2021 | Join the Socialist Party
Subscribe | Donate | Audio | PDF | ebook
2020