Among the Green Party councillors and members who joined the picket line at St Richard's Hospital this week was Chichester City Councillor and retired nurse, Debbie Carter.
Cllr Carter said: “It was difficult in my day. Now we have an exhausted, worn-down workforce and nurses who are not paid enough to the point that some have to use food banks to feed their families, access hardship funds or walk away from their profession. This is all a far cry from Sunak’s promise in 2020 that the NHS would get “whatever it needs” to deal with the country’s impending health crisis1. That’s why I’m here in solidarity for the nurses, and all public sector workers in their quest for better conditions and better pay.”
Cllr Sarah Sharp – County, District and City Councillor for Chichester South – also joined the action. “It was important to me to join the nurses today and support their strike,” she said. “Probably all of us owe our lives, or those of people we love, to those working in the NHS – I know I wouldn't be here if it weren't for the NHS. Nearly 13 years of Conservative understaffing, underfunding and undervaluing the NHS must come to an end. We need to make sure that nurses get decent pay and conditions. They work incredibly long hours and deserve more for their dedication and service to us all. We all stood on our doorsteps and clapped the NHS a few short years ago but clapping is not enough. Fair pay and conditions are a necessity.”
In Chichester, and nationally, the Green Party is proud to support those on strike and vehemently opposes the anti-strike bill. The Green Party believes trade unions and other forms of workers’ organisation are essential to upholding and expanding the rights of all people. The right to organise in trade unions has historically underpinned social progress of all forms, enabling people to win advances in prosperity and social equality for all. Attacks on this right to strike – along with the new powers to shut down peaceful protest – set the stage for social progress to be rolled back.
Notes
1 https://www.ft.com/content/f16d2b16-63a6-11ea-a6cd-df28cc3c6a68