Around 200 junior doctors and their supporters rallied outside the University College Hospital (UCH) in central London and marched on the BBC today, Wednesday.
It was a significant show of solidarity from trade unionists on the first day of the British Medical Association’s (BMA) 48-hour walkout against the imposition of a dangerous new contract.
Yannis Gourtsoyannis is a UCH BMA rep and sits on its junior doctors’ committee. He told Socialist Worker, “If we allowed imposition to go ahead it would set a dangerous precedent. They would use it to launch attacks on the wider working class.
“But we’ve had over overwhelming support from other trade unionists today.”
At UCH junior doctors were joined by Aslef train drivers’ union members, PCS union members, RMT members, UCU, NUT, Unison and a CWU union postal workers’ delegation.
Phil an Aslef train driver told Socialist Worker, “This isn’t just about supporting the junior doctors. It is also about standing up for the NHS.
He added, “Imposition is a direct threat to trade unions and workers.They tried it on with us over Night Tube, thinking they could get away with it with anyone afterwards.
“But we were able to push them back.”
Bob had come with the 10-strong CWU delegation. The postal worker said, “When they attack one group we’ve all got to stick together—we’ve got to back the junior doctors.”
Junior doctors didn’t just get support from outside the hospital. A delegation of 10 UCH nurses also to show support during their lunchbreak.
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