Protests planned on 26th March
UNITE union’s local officers in the West London Mental Health Trust expect at least 180 jobs to be cut in each of the coming three years as budgets are slashed by the ConDEm government.
This will include 110 qualified nurses and 120 admin and clerical posts. 10% of all current posts will go.
Apart from the devastating loss of income for those employees, hundreds of the area’s most needy patients will be left uncared for.
” The heartlessness of this government is staggering”, says Nick Grant, convenor of EAPS. “Every day of the week thousands of selfless workers care for the mental health and well-being of the whole west London area. That service will disappear, and drag many families into penury because they will have to stop working to do the caring instead.”
” David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ looks a sicker joke with every day that passes.”
In response UNITE officers are calling on Ealing residents and workers to gather early on 26 March outside Ealing Town Hall for a rally against these vicious cuts. This will be from 9-10am.
The union is then laying on coaches to take protesters and some patients directly to Embankment to join the TUC March for the Alternative protest, which is potentially going to be the biggest public protest this island has ever seen.
” We call on every Ealing user of health services to at least join this local rally, even if they can’t go on to the major protest in central London,” added Nick Grant.
UNITE officers are also making arrangements for a site-based protest linking up with workers from neighbouring Ealing hospital after the 26 March.
A separate recent estimate claims that up to 900 posts could go in the Ealing Primary Care Trust.*
17th March 2011
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