Registered with the Post Office as a newspaper. Published by Relgocrest Ltd for Red Weekly, 97 Caledonian Road, London N.1. (01-837 6954) A large notice, "Join our sit-in", met 600 marchers at Hounslow hospital last Saturday. Elderly patients, shoppers, nurses and ancillary workers had joined the prorest occubaron in oposinon to te CIosure of the hospital together with four orner proposea closures in the canng, Hammersmith and Hounslow area.
The large march and occupation was the result of energetic rank-and-file organisation in the local hospitals. The joint shop stewards committee aims to cover the wole wren in the nent aranst the cuts. its chairman, Carl Brecker, told Red Weekly that the response to mass meetings called against the closure had been just fantastic - in some hospitals the turn-out was over 75 per cent. Even the Royal College of Nursing has joined the commutee arter special endorsement from their district committee.
National Union of Public Employees shop steward Jim Clarke, speaking on behalf of Hounslow hospital workers, said to loud applause: 'If the management can't run the hospital without cuts, then we can!
Jean Lugg, NUPE student nurse at West Middlesex hospital, now threatened by ward closures. She explained that if hospital workers did take industrial action to fight the cuts, the whole of the press and management would come down on mer necks tor cause surrer ing. But the same people would never shout about the suffering caused by the cuts in health. This message was banged home by NAME...