250 community nurses, occupational therapists and team secretaries working for Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust have staged two official strikes in their campaign to defend jobs and services.
This follows a 91.6% ballot result in favour of strike action. The threatened cuts in community mental health teams include:
• reduction in staffing numbers in community mental health teams and consequent higher caseloads, and a reduction in service to keep people well
• job freeze on all nursing posts in the Trust as there will be 33 less nursing posts and 8 less OT posts (yet they can afford an expansion of 24 extra managers at a cost of £1.25million!)
• downgrading of most nursing, occupational therapy and admin staff,
• no guarantee of no redundancies,
• possible privatisation of four community teams,
• closure of one of the south Manchester old age day centres and 7day support team.
The solid strike action breaks a grim period in which cutbacks in both mental health and other hospital and community services have been pushed through with little resistance.
Messages of support to the Manchester nurses should be sent to karen reissmann [email protected] 07977 986179.