THE VOTE Arj Thiara Workers Revolutionary Party for Ealing Southall campaign team got great support from Ealing Hospital, Greenford Bus Garage and Southall Mosques, Gurdwaras and Temples yesterday.
Arj said: ‘The main issue here is that Ealing Hospital, where my three sons were all born, must be saved. The Tories plan to close the A&E before the end of the year, while the Labour MP claims that all that can be done to stop it is sign petitions, which is ridiculous.
‘Ealing hospital is the heart of this multi-cultural community and the whole community will support the trade unions in taking strike action and occupying to save it. That is my message and that is what I am fighting for.’
Royal College of Nursing member Anand Jogroo said: ‘They can’t close this hospital. They have to reorganise it. There is bad management here, kick them out, reorganise the running of this hospital. People from Southall have to come here and sit down in their thousands, bring tents, sleep here, block the traffic.’
Gurdeep Rai said: ‘I’m voting for Arj. I’ve always been a Labour person, but the Labour MP Sharma has done nothing to save our hospital, we’ve got to kick him out. We’ve got to get the Tories out, but here in Ealing Southall, Vote Arj.’
Sheila Brown, RCN, said: ‘This hospital must be saved. I voted for strike action for a pay rise. We’ve had a pay freeze for so long, which is really a massive pay cut. I’m getting very political these days, we’ve got to get rid of this Tory government.’
Florence Umekwe, Unite, said: ‘I’m a nurse, a midwife and a health visitor. People in this country shouldn’t wait until something happens before they act, they should anticipate and act in advance. For example, we know they are about to close the hospital but are we going to wait until the government says the A&E is closing in three weeks? We need to strike and demonstrate now. We need a general strike now.’
Busworker Ranjit Singh said: ‘We want an MP who will defend all jobs and services. I’m Voting Arj Thiara.’