The Turkish/Kurdish community organisation Day-Mer has organised a demo at the North Middlesex University Hospital in Edmonton on Saturday (8 January) calling for more NHS funding, Unite the union said.
The North London protest at 16.00 will be joined by members of the new Unite migrant, food retail and services branch which seeks to organise Turkish/Kurdish workers and improve their employment conditions.
Unite regional officer Onay Kasab said: “The demonstration, organised by Day-Mer, is a great example of showing that the fight for the NHS is a campaign that must involve all of us – we cannot leave it to NHS workers alone.
“This is something that Unite will be building on in 2022 – how do we best combine to ensure that we defend the NHS, fight privatisation and win decent pay and conditions for our members? The answer is by bringing together all those with a common interest. This is why this is such an inspiring example.”
Unite national officer for health Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe said: “The involvement of Day-Mer in organising this protest is a magnificent show of solidarity. The NHS is under intense pressure as the Omicron rate of infections soars – and yet the government, two years into this global pandemic, has failed to get to grips with the crisis facing the NHS.
“There are already an estimated 90,000 vacancies in the NHS in England, so if the NHS has to face a large percentage of its workforce self-isolating this will make the strain on the service unbearable. Already we are seeing cancelled operations, clinics and appointments as more NHS trusts declare ‘critical incidents’.
“A decade of lack of investment in the NHS workforce means there is not the spare capacity to deal with this continuing scale of workforce shortages.
“The situation is being made worse by many people who should be isolating not doing so, either due to the chronic lack of tests or because they can’t afford to with sick pay being so low, amongst the lowest rates in Europe.”
Unite health members rejected the government’s now imposed three per cent pay offer for NHS staff in England and targeted industrial action is planned into the spring.
Unite is dedicated to advancing the jobs, pay and conditions of its members and will fight back against any efforts to diminish workers’ living standards.
