We Marched for our NHS !

Eastbourne Trades Council members were proud to join hundreds of others in marching for jobs and services at Eastbourne DGH today.

Lee Comfort and Sharon Wentworth (Unite) marching proudly
through Eastbourne with the Trades Council banner.

GMB members led a march to highlight the agenda of cuts, closures and downgradings at our local hospital, in a march around Eastbourne town centre, followed by a rally on Eastbourne Seafront that heard from Union officials, staff at the hospital, a speaker from Sussex Save our NHS, Liz Walke from Save the DGH, and even Eastbourne's coalition MP, Stephen Lloyd.

Eastbourne Trades Council Secretary, Dave Brinson, spoke on behalf of the Trades Council. He highlighted the culture of suspicion and fear that the current DGH management has instilled in staff, and referred to the oft-quoted claim about the difficulties of recruiting to Eastbourne's hospital: saying: "if you want to recruit staff, why not stop screwing over the working people you already have ?!"

"Trade unionists in Eastbourne come from all backgrounds- public and private sector. Socialists, people who vote for Stephen [Lloyd], even the odd Tory. But as trade unionists, we are united by one thing: we know that we are stronger when we stand together, fight together and win together."

"To quote the late, great Bob Crow. If you spit on your own, you can't do much. If we all spit together, we can drown the bastards !"

The campaign goes on. You can find out more at the Save the DGH campaign, the Trades Council's Eastbourne Trades Unionists for our DGH site, or GMB Southern Region.