Following a number of successful meetings held under the banner, Campaign for a Socialist Mersey Mayor, the Merseyside Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is writing to Labour’s metro-mayor candidate, the Liverpool Walton MP Steve Rotheram, to propose a joint campaign to save threatened hospitals on Merseyside and to support the RMT transport union against Merseytravel bosses.

The Unison public sector union national executive committee member and the Merseyside TUSC metro-mayoral spokesperson Roger Bannister says:

“Leaked plans show hospitals face merger and closure across Liverpool, and across the Merseyside and Cheshire region.

“I have been actively campaigning against the closure of Liverpool Women’s Hospital. We need a massive campaign of action to defend our National Health Service starting right now, or there could be little left by the time of the next general election.

“I have also been outraged to learn that Merseytravel is ignoring the questions by transport union RMT over their intended removal of guards from trains. Repeated questions from an RMT union official to Merseytravel chair, the Liverpool Labour councillor Liam Robinson, have gone unanswered. I and Merseyside TUSC will continue giving our full support to the RMT’s campaign against cutbacks on Merseytravel.

“I believe that key elements in the metro-mayoral position, and the election campaigns leading up to it, should include defending our hospitals, defending our Merseyrail guards, and opposing cutbacks to both.

“I will be writing to Steve to propose we take on the cutters together”.

The local NHS cuts plans in the ‘Sustainability and Transformation Plan’ were leaked, and have been published here: http://www.labournet.net/other/1610/stp1.html

The RMT press statement on the Merseytravel cuts is here: http://www.rmt.org.uk/news/merseytravel-silence-on-guards-is-deafening-says-rmt/

For further information on the TUSC Campaign for a Socialist Mersey Mayor, e-mail [email protected]