The Socialist 6 July 2016

Stand firm against the Blairite coup

Stand firm and organise against the Blairite coup

Demo says: Keep Corbyn, sack the Blairites

Keep Corbyn demonstrations in Leeds

Meeting discusses how to get rid of 'blue or red' Tories

Stevenage supports Corbyn

Join the Socialist Party to fight for socialist change

Why I joined: I want a future for my generation

Why I joined: My real education started when I joined

NSSN conference: Implacable opposition to austerity

After Chilcot: put Blair in the dock

Osborne plans to cut corporation tax again

Rough sleeper death sparks calls for action

Them & Us

Junior doctors renew battle over contracts

Teachers' strike: Angry and defiant

Unite policy conference 2016: Union could place itself at the centre of anti-austerity fight

RMT conference takes fighting position on urgent political questions

Bus drivers' strikes continue for fair pay

Manchester firefighters fight cuts

Hundreds protest to demand votes at 16

Defiant Butterfields tenants visit landlord's house

Southampton Rallies to counter fascist threat

Turkey: Deadly terrorist attack at Istanbul airport

Mexico: Teachers continue strike despite extreme repression

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Junior doctors renew battle over contracts

Unions must coordinate industrial action
Defend the NHS against Tory government attacks

On the joint Junior doctors and teachers demonstration 26-4-16, photo Paul Mattsson (Click to enlarge)

Concerned about their future and that of the National Health Service (NHS), junior doctors in England have voted by 58% to 42% to reject the terms of their proposed new working contract.

With teachers, college lecturers and many other groups of workers having to take strike action against this austerity-driven Tory government and greedy employers, junior doctors should now approach the TUC and coordinate further industrial action.

The only reason health minister Jeremy Hunt backed down from imposing an earlier rotten contract and reopened negotiations was a series of determined strikes of the junior doctors, with overwhelming public support.

Any new threat by Hunt to impose this contract again must be met by strike action.

Junior doctors felt that negotiators had conceded too much and the compromise deal has now been thrown out. Clearly a majority of junior doctors believe that their loss of earnings and a lack of proper oversight on working excessive hours in an increasingly fragmented NHS were unacceptable.

In the wake of the vote Johann Malawana immediately resigned as chair of the BMA union's junior doctor committee. He accused the Tories of undermining the NHS and driving it "headlong into a wider crisis".

Yannis Gourtsoyannis of the BMA junior doctors' committee spoke at the recent National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) conference. To rousing applause he said: "Building links between our unions is vital as we fight for a society in which workers can determine their rights and flourish inside and outside of the workplace."

Anticipating the vote Yannis continued: "I think a 'no' vote is likely and necessary as the contract is not good enough. If we vote no we then need to escalate the action as the government is on its knees."

The Socialist Party has mobilised public support for the junior doctors' previous pickets and demonstrations. Once again we will be on the streets drumming up support for any further action to secure a just deal and workable contract.

But we will also be demanding that the trade union movement concretely acts to coordinate industrial action and put into effect the demand for a 24-hour general strike against the austerity agenda of this weakened Tory government. We also demand that Labour MPs stop attacking Jeremy Corbyn and start supporting the junior doctors and other workers.

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