Whipps Cross into special measures: cancel all PFI debt!

TUSC supporters were campaigning at Whipps the morning after the announcement

Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition candidate for Walthamstow, Nancy Taaffe, responded to the announcements in the press on Whipps Cross going into ‘special measures’:

“Today’s announcement is a direct consequence of the £77m of cuts made by the Bart’s Trust in 2013 following the use of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to fund redevelopment of the Royal London Hospital. I stood for parliament in 2005 against then Labour MP Neil Gerrard who debated with me and said that PFI at our local hospital was ‘the only show in town’. That ‘show’ has led to this terrible report. The culture of management bullying and harassment is a direct consequence of trying to make NHS workers do more with less. Although the devastation caused by privatisation wasn’t immediately apparent, we made it clear from 2005 that future generations would be damaged and disadvantaged by it. Sadly, I believe we were right. This culture of bullying directly led to the sacking of Unison branch chairperson Charlotte Monroe, who tried to raise the issue of cuts in a wider audience.

“I had my two children at Whipps Cross and know the value of its services. TUSC supporters have been active, both in the hospital and in the community, opposing cuts, including participation in the Whipps Cross demonstration in 2013. TUSC demands an end to PFI and all NHS privatisation, and no cuts, with full restoration of all funding lost to the NHS. We do not want to see a revolving door of ‘new administrators’ leeching off the public purse while those who deliver the service are run ragged and face pay cuts.”

Why I’m standing: Tim Roedel, Grove Green

Hello, my name is Tim Roedel and I’m standing for TUSC (Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition) in Grove Green ward in the forthcoming council elections on May 22nd.
I am the Fire Brigades Union Waltham Forest Borough Secretary and I have worked at Leytonstone Fire Station for the last fourteen years.
I want to stand to help the campaign that is calling for an end to ALL cuts; we’ve had enough. We’ve particularly had enough in Waltham Forest.
In Waltham Forest we have lost 3 fire engines from the service due to cuts, one from my very own station. Nationally, we are expected to suffer a 30% cut in provision, this is unprecedented.
There have been 3,845 firefighter job cuts across the UK since 2011. This has had the effect of slowing down responses to 999 emergency calls and increasing the risk to communities.
Firefighters have seen three years of pension contribution increases and are facing a fourth. Government is proceeding with plans for an unworkable pension scheme for the future.
The floods last Christmas showed that it is not just fires that we deal with. There is more pressure on the service than ever, and fewer and fewer resources to perform the tasks that are needed. 70% of England’s fire and rescue services were involved in the floods, but there is still no clear duty for them to respond to floods (unlike in Scotland and Northern Ireland). Funding and resources are still not adequate for the threats faced by local communities.
Leytonstone Fire Station is due to be demolished and replaced with a new building next year using The Private Finance Initiative Model (PFI). This is where a private company builds the building and the Fire Service pays the building company back over many years. I hope that this does not turn out to be as disastrous for the fire service as it has been for the NHS. Huge cuts to Whipps Cross are being attributed to the calamitous PFI scheme down at Barts and The London. We wouldn’t want to be held to ransom by private building firms that could potentially mean stations have to close and firefighters lose their jobs; all to pay for a building that should have been built and financed in the public sector.
I am proud to be standing with other trade unionists and socialists campaigning against cuts, particularly those working in the local hospital Whipps Cross. I believe if elected I would oppose all cuts to local services, having been on the receiving end of them in the fire service. We need anti-cuts campaigners to be visible, vocal and oppositional wherever they can. The more we raise the need to tax the rich, renationalise the utilities and use the revenue on public services, the more chance we have of galvanising people against austerity.

Why we’re standing: Whipps Cross hospital workers

Len, Russell, Aidan, Craig and Patrick

We are workers at Whipps Cross Hospital standing in Leytonstone and Forest wards in the council elections on 22nd May.
For the last few months we have been part of a big campaign of the unions in the hospital and the community to fight against £77.5m cuts in Barts Health Trust. We have been fighting pay cuts, the risk of 1000 job cuts and an even more overworked, underpaid workforce.
Thanks to everyone in the local community who supported us on our demonstrations!
Barts Health Trust, which includes Whipps Cross, is saddled with a massive PFI (private finance initiative) debt to rebuild the old Royal London, costing £115m a year!
Private companies are sucking the lifeblood out of the NHS. And the ConDems plan to sell off even more of our NHS – all to pay for a crisis caused by bankers and bosses.
We say cancel the PFI debt! Why should working people pay such a terrible price for the failures and the greed of the rich and big business?
The government bailed out the banks – why not bail out the NHS?!
All the main parties, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Tory, agree about cuts and privatisation to the NHS and all our public services. It was the Labour government that pressed ahead with the disastrous PFI projects that have caused such a crisis in the NHS.
This is why we have decided to stand as candidates for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) in the local elections.

In Forest vote:
Craig Guiste
Patrick Brown
Russell Pennington

In Leytonstone vote:
Len Hockey
Aidan Taylor
Suzanne Muna (Suzanne’s ‘why I’m standing’ will appear in a future post)