Nursing a grievance: health workers need to revive the spirit of 1988 At the same time services will be slashed as private operators inevitably opt to run only the most profitable routes. Civil servants No area of the public sector is safe from the chaos wrought by Tory cuts and privatisation.
The civil service, once unrivalled in its 'job security is to be dismantled and hived off to the private sector. Only two Step up class struggle: time for teachers to fight weeks ago, the government paid Tarmac£50 million to take over the Property Services Agency with the loss of 900 The Royal Mail faces and postal workers have already staged a demonstration outside the Tory Party conference. Fighting the pay freeze With the pay round now in full swing, the government is A threatening to freeze or impose a wage-cutting two percent limit on public sector pay - well below current inflation.
NALGO and NUPE have publicly declared their rejection of such a pay limit: now is their chanceto make a real fight of it.
Already claims submitted for nurses and hospital ancillary workers, teachers, university lecturers, firefighters and postal workers are stuck in the pipeline: there will not be a more favourable time to take action. If they are not challenged the Tories are likely to repeat their refusal to award the rise recently agreed for university lecturers. Only concerted action by sector workers can defend wages and conditions, save jobs and halt the madness of privatisation. With the wave of anger at threateng to force a losure- threatened closures ment U-turn, the last thing Major's cabinet wants is to have to fight a second front against an alliance of public sector workers.
This is precisely the opening workers need to save jobs and services. United action could bring that result.