‘We’ve got one chance’

“I’ve been going around to regions and conferences saying this is the most important vote in a generation,” says Josie Bird, UNISON’s president. “The only difficulty with that statement is that we have said it about the last two or three elections, but they do seem to get more important each time.” She’s sitting around a table with her vice presidents, Sian Stockham and James Anthony, discussing the UK’s forthcoming trip to polling stations. “Austerity has more impact each time and if we get a Tory majority, then with the lurch to the right we’ve already seen, we’re going to see even more – and if we really ended up with a five-year, fixed-term Parliament, can you imagine the damage that they would do?” she asks. Everyone nods. “It feels to me that since austerity, public service workers like us have felt all the pressure,” adds James. “We know the cracks are starting to show, but we’ve done an amazing job of pasting over them for the public. “I think there’s a very real feeling that, if it continues, like this, services will collapse. “People have already started seeing waiting times for A&E and operations increase. Standards of care will drop because there won’t be enough nursing staff.” “Austerity has more impact each time and if we get a Tory majority, then with the lurch to the right we’ve already seen, we’re going to see even more.” President Josie Bird Sian notes that the community and voluntary sector relies ...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article activists ge19 general election 2019 presidential team UNISON president Source Type: news