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Dear All
We must all support and unite for this
event
it is what we have been crying out for
for over two years.
Please email to as many people as you
can.
Get those coaches booked !!!!
Lets show this government that we must
keep our NHS a public service free to all at the point of delivery.
Please let us know if your group is
going.
I personally apologies for any previous
confusion with this event but with all the previous changes I can only go by
the information I am given. PUSH as always and will always endeavour to work
with any person or group that is campaigning for the good of our NHS.
Best Wishes
Vanessa Gee
PUSH Chair
Please email
vanesgee@googlemail.com
Telephone 07930918075
See comment from Ian Perkin
I
would ask anyone interested in the job security of NHS employees to sign the
Number 10 Petition
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/sosrreform/ to halt the use of the legal
concept of Some Other Substantial Reason to get rid of NHS employees. Please
spread the word to anyone interested in a fair and equitable NHS.
Ian Perkin
Further details
The NHS Together alliance of health service trade unions and staff
associations is preparing for the 3 November demonstration and rally in support
of the NHS. A national demonstration is something that health activists have
been calling for. This is an important chance to make our voices heard in
defence of the NHS and its founding values, and against the "perpetual
revolution" which has characterised reform of the health service with the
fragmentation of services, bungled workforce planning and a morale-sapping pay
award.
Reforms should not be imposed without effective consultation, at a pace of
change which brooks no opposition and allows no time to assess the results. The
NHS should be championed as a public service belonging to us all with no place
for the profit motive. In the words of Dave Prentis, Unison general secretary,
"As the NHS approaches 60, its core principles must be defended just as loudly
as its achievements are celebrated."
The theme of the day is celebration of the NHS. Organisers are stressing the
relaxed and family-friendly atmosphere of the event, with music and entertainers
on the march through Westminster and afterwards at the rally in Trafalgar
Square.
- 11am: Assemble at Temple Place, Victoria Embankment, London
- Noon: March through Westminster (will take approximately one hour)
- 1pm: Rally in Trafalgar Square
- 1.30-4.30pm: Speakers and entertainment in the Square
Health campaign groups around the country are gearing up to help make the march
and rally a huge demonstration of the passionate support we have for a publicly
owned, accessible and publicly accountable NHS.
Keep Our NHS Public has produced a new campaign leaflet promoting the march. You
can see the leaflet on the KONP website at
http://www.keepournhspublic.com/index.php, or order copies from
http://www.keepournhspublic.com/campaignresources.php specifying item 2.
With just over two weeks till the march we need to urge people to join us, both
in celebration and in defence of the NHS.
As well as leafleting, local groups have other ideas to encourage people to join
the demonstration. One tactic which many different groups are enthusiastic about
is the screening of Michael Moore's new film "SiCKO" about the horrors of the
American healthcare system. The film goes on general release on 26 October, and
will give an ideal chance both to promote the aims of individual, local health
campaigns, and also to reinforce the message to film goers about the importance
of the march. If our NHS is going to be successfully defended against the
rapacious corporations featured in "SiCKO", we must galvanise the public into
action.
One local group which is being very active in the promotion of the demonstration
is Unison Oxfordshire Health, using the Unison "I love the NHS" leaflet (which
you can download from
http://www.unison.org.uk/healthcare/) to give details of local coaches to
the demo, and of dates of "SiCKO" screenings. The leaflets are being put in
hospital visitor areas, distributed to other campaign groups such as pensioner
groups, and handed out at cinemas when the film is released. The branch is also
targeting health workers with posters and newspapers and working on stunts to
advertise the demonstration. They have bought a hundred seats in a local cinema
for the first showing of "SiCKO" and have had much interest from local and
regional union members. The branch will publicly invite MPs and Trust chief
executives to the viewing. Two coaches have been booked to go to London on the
3rd, with reservations for the free tickets being made via the website
http://www.unisonoxonhealth.org.uk/demo/index.htm or on 01865 770022.
For details of a group near to you see
http://www.nhscampaign.org/campaign_groups.html or contact
david@nhscampaign.org or
olivia@nhscampaign.org. Our current
list of local groups' arrangements for travelling to the demonstration:
Manchester KONP
Coaches from Chorlton Street bus station, Manchester at 6.30am.
Tickets - contact Norma 0161 225 0302
Unison Oxfordshire Health
Tickets free but booking necessary from
http://www.unisonoxonhealth.org.uk/demo/index.htm or 01865 770022.
Coaches from Banbury Cross 9.00am;
Horton Hospital (Hightown Rd) 9.10am;
Didcot Hospital 8.45am;
Oxford (Taylorian lay-by at St Giles) 9.10am;
Headington shops (opposite post office) 9.25am;
Thornhill park and ride 9.30am.
All returning 5.00pm from London
Southampton KONP
Coaches from Southampton leaving Cenotaph at 9.00am.
Tickets - contact Amy Elliott, 07752 140 365. Download Southampton flyer for
more details.
Tower Hamlets KONP (London)
Meet at 11am at Whitechapel Tube Station to go together to Embankment for start
of march at noon.
Contact - james.fagan2@ntlworld.com
See the TUC press release of 15 October publicising the march and rally at
http://www.tuc.org.uk/publicsector/tuc-13833-f0.cfm.
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