photo Paul Mattsson

photo Paul Mattsson   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Socialist Party trade unionists in the NHS have sent the following message of support to striking health workers in Germany.

By fighting for equal and better pay you are standing up for public services and all who depend on them; for low-paid and exploited workers everywhere; and against the profit system which only sees opportunities to make money, where health workers see people who need help.

We stand with you in your fight for equal pay. It is an absolute scandal that workers doing the same job can have such different pay and conditions.

In Northern Ireland, health workers went on strike and won equal pay with health workers in England just before the Covid pandemic began. Privatised workers at a number of hospitals in Britain have won NHS pay and conditions, and in some cases they have also won their fight to be brought back in house and directly employed by the NHS. These victories have been won because workers were prepared to strike.

We wish you every success and victory in all that you are fighting for. Your strike is an inspiration to us, and we hope will launch a wider movement demanding better wages and proper funding for healthcare.

We are members of the Socialist Party, the sister organisation of Sozialistische Organisation Solidaritaet. We are fighting for a 15% payrise for NHS workers, an end to privatisation and for all workers to be brought back in house.

We are fighting for the health, local government and education unions in Britain to take coordinated strike action demanding a proper pay rise and funding for public services.

We are fighting for working-class people to take control of society and run it democratically for need not profit – a genuine socialist society. Workers do the work that keeps society running and produces the wealth – we should use that wealth to benefit all, not just the super-rich.

Victory to your strike!

Victory to the workers!