Glasgow action

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AS on May 19 the health workers' one day strikes on June 4 and 8 were widely supported in Glasgow, although at the same time there was a widespread feeling that the time for one-day strikes was past and it was time to step up the action.

Various forms of selective action are already under way in a number of the hospitals. Hospital the At Stobhill enquiries office staff were out all last week and the flow of mail continues to suffer under the impact of their action. This week the transport staff and the TSSU members (who sterilise the surgical instruments) are out on strike.

At Ruchill Geriatric Hospital, the sewing room and laundry staff are on selective action, and in all hospitals in Glasgow Western District the transport staff struck for three days, resulting in a large amount of bed linen having to be destroyed.

The impact of the picket lines varied from hospital ic hospital. At Stobhill, Gartnavel General and Gartnavel Royal the pickets were effective in stopping all but the most determined scabs from going in. But at Ruchill, the picket was of little more than token effect, and some hospitals had no pickets out at all.

At Gartnavel General and Stobhill pickets came close to injury as some of the scabs drove straight through their lines without paying any attention to the pickets.

Emergency cover was being provided at all hospitals, although this was sometimes being abused by management, as well as being mis-reported by the press, the "Scottish Sunday Standard" in particular tried to give the impression that corpses were being left lying around the wards in Gartnavel General.

Organisation of the one-day strikes, and tne other actions being taken during the dispute, varied from hospital to hospital. But where the dispute was under the control of a specially established Action Committee, as opposed to just the normal Joint Shop Stewards Committee, the degree of organisation and militancy was generally higher.

In some hospitals however no action at all was taken at all during any of the one-day strikes. At Foresthall Geriatric Hospital, for example, no action was taken because spending cuts. have reduced the day-to-day cover at the hospital effectively to emergency cover anyway, so any strike action at all would lead to a less than emergency cover situation.

The mood on the picket lines (who were, admittedly the more militant sections of the strikers) was definitely one of wanting to stop softpedalling on the strike action.

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Socialist Organiser, Thursday 17 June 1982 Page 3 Socialist EDTTORIALI