Support the striking ambulance workers on 21 December

Local strikes are now scheduled to take place in Hastings and St Leonards almost every day between now and Christmas. HOT’s Gabriel Carlyle explains who’s striking when, and how you can show your support.

As the government and much of the media go on the offensive against striking workers, solidarity and support from the general public is more important than ever.

Here are three simple things you can do:

1: Demonstrate your solidarity by visiting a picket line

Nurses, ambulance drivers, posties and rail workers are all striking to defend our essential public services, as well as for fair play.

As one nurse explains in a piece for Open Democracy:

‘We hear reports of the NHS in crisis, hospitals running at capacity and dangerously low staffing levels. But without working within these services, it’s impossible to truly understand what this looks like for staff, and the patients these staff are doing their best to care for.

‘What staff are witnessing first hand is a catastrophic breakdown of services that has left us with vacancies hitting 135,000 and patients in danger. We desperately need to focus on retention of staff: without addressing that, we have no chance of tackling the backlog of seven million patients. Sadly, neither the government or opposition ever bring retention into the conversation, because that would mean putting pay restoration on the agenda.’

If you’ve never visited a picket line before then you can find some simple pointers by following this link.

2: Put a poster in your window

You can download posters for printing out at the following websites:

Ambulance workers: https://www.gmb.org.uk/sites/default/files/A2%20Placards%20-%20Talk%20Pay%20Now.pdf
Postal workers: https://www.cwu.org/rmgballotresources
Nurses: https://www.rcn.org.uk/Get-Involved/Campaign-with-us/Fair-Pay-for-Nursing/Strike-hub or here

3: If you can afford it then donate to one or more of the strike funds

Hastings & District Trades Union Council have set up a hardship fund to support local strikers and their families. You can make a donation using the following details:

HDTUC Hardship Fund
Account number 67267886
Sort code 08-92-99

And the Hastings & Tonbridge Area Branch of the RMT (railworkers) has set up a page on JustGiving for its hardship fund: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/rmthastingsandtonbridgearea-branchhardship

Alternatively you can make a donation to the following national strike funds:

RMT (rail workers): https://www.rmt.org.uk/about/national-dispute-fund/
RCN (nurses): https://action.rcn.org.uk/page/117402/donate/1?ea.tracking.id=internal

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