10.02.2000

Defending Candy Udwin and Dave Carr

Tuesday February 8 saw a spirited demonstration in defence of University College of London Hospital Unison militants Candy Udwin and Dave Carr. Some 200 supporters marched from Middlesex Hospital, via UCLH and a series of London University sites, to a rally at Friend's House in Euston Road. A low turnout which must be cause for concern.

Candy Udwin and Dave Carr have a long and proud record as fighters for workers' rights in the NHS. They have led numerous strikes and have tirelessly sought to build links of solidarity between those in struggle. Comrade Udwin took part in the famous defence of the Elizabeth Garret Anderson Hospital back in the 1970s. Despite the numerous defeats suffered by the working class over the last two decades UCLH Unison - not least thanks to comrades Udwin and Carr - has become something of a fortress of militant trade unionism.

Precisely due to the role of its two most prominent leaders UCLH Unison is a thorn in the side of the Unison bureaucracy and retiring general secretary Rodney Bickerstaffe - still considered a leftwinger by the Morning Star. The branch is fearlessly resisting the New Labour government's PFI plans to privatise the hospital. Desperate not to rock Blair's boat, the Unison bureaucracy has therefore launched a witch hunt. UCLH management admits that if comrades Udwin and Carr are expelled from Unison they will also be sacked from their jobs. So a great deal is at stake. By removing comrades Udwin and Carr NHS management and the Blairites hope to smash self-activity in UCLH and inflict a further blow against working class alternative power.

The demonstration in defence of comrades Udwin and Carr was supported by a range of trade unionists, though in the main Unison banners from London were the rule. Overwhelmingly those taking part were members or followers of the Socialist Workers Party - who unfortunately still show little interest in wider politics. All placards were SWP and, apart from a handful of sellers of the Weekly Worker, Workers Power, and a couple of News Line loyalists the left was notable by its absence. The crisis-ridden Socialist Party in England and Wales had no banner, no sellers, and no message of solidarity.

The rally was addressed by a range of speakers. The respect and love earned by comrades Udwin and Carr over the years was palpable. There were also two overtly political, as opposed to merely trade unionist, speeches. The first came from renowned leftwing filmmaker Ken Loach. He stressed his support for the LSA and its Camden and Barnet candidate, Candy Udwin - who, significantly, was proposed by Barry Walden for the SWP and seconded by the CPGB.

The other political speech was from comrade Udwin herself. She cleverly ridiculed Frank Dobson and New Labour's 25 GLA candidates.

Dobson and Glenda Jackson, she detailed, tried to gain local credibility in the mid-1990s by appearing on UCLH picket lines for a photo opportunity. Now look at these ex-ministers. In particular, and not surprisingly, comrade Udwin singled out a certain Helen Gordon. She is New Labour candidate for Camden and Barnet. She is also personnel manager of UCLH.

To resounding applause comrade Udwin called for the building of the LSA challenge to Blairism.