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Staff from the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield will be supporting the national protest day in solidarity with Karen 12, 30pm Herries Rd hospital entrance. All welcome As part of the national solidarity day there will be a lunchtime (12 noon) protest outside the BRI main entrance in Bristol in support of Karen Reissmann on Wednesday 5th December. All welcome. Sarah Creagh Leicestershire Health UNISON members and representatives will stage a brief protest at lunchtime on Wednesday, December 5th, in support of Karen Reissmann, a nurse and trade unionist in Manchester for 25 years, who was sacked one month ago for speaking out against cuts and privatisation. The protest will be matched by others at hospitals and health centres across the UK, as health workers show that they are not prepared to be silenced. The national day of activities in support of Karen comes on the third day of her appeal against the sacking, which has provoked an indefinite strike by 150 of Karen’s colleagues. Karen’s sacking has massive implications for all health workers - if we cannot speak out against cuts and privatisation without the fear of disciplinary action then the NHS will suffer. Staff will suffer. And patients will suffer. Ironically, Karen was suspended from work to face disciplinary charges of bringing her Trust into disrepute on exactly the same day as she received a promotion in recognition of her excellent record as a mental health nurse. UNISON says this demonstrates the lengths her employer will go to - losing the services of an excellent nurse and dedicated employee - in order to silence criticisms. Leicestershire Health UNISON branch chair, Nick Holden, explained why health workers in Leicester were going to join the national day of protests. “We know that it could be any one of us facing the things which have been done to Karen Reissmann. We know that, with cuts and privatisation on the agenda for NHS services all over the country, we have to be able to speak out when we believe our jobs, our colleagues, our services or our patients are at risk. And we know that we will all be more vulnerable if Karen’s employers are allowed to single her out, and victimise her for speaking out. “It is a basic trade union principle that ‘an injury to one is an injury to all’ but that is not just a slogan. It is the truth. If Karen is not re-instated, everyone in the NHS will be injured by that decision - we will have lost a strong and clear voice speaking up for the NHS, and many of us will be worrying if we will be next. So we cannot let Karen face this threat alone. That’s why our UNISON branch is fully behind our colleagues in Manchester, who are on indefinite strike until Karen is reinstated, and it is why we are taking part in the protests tomorrow. “ The protest in Leicester will be at the Coleman Road entrance to the Leicester General Hospital between 12. 00 and 12. 30 on Wednesday, December 5th. Please join us, if you can! |