Health workers in Wales and across the UK will be honoured at the birthplace of NHS founder Nye Bevan this weekend.
The annual Bevan Day event in Tredegar will take place on Sunday July 7 and mark 76 years of the national health service.
UNISON Cymru/Wales regional secretary Jess Turner (pictured above) will be a guest speaker at the event and said:
“Fourteen years of severe spending cuts by UK Conservative governments have stripped Wales and our public services of vital funding.
“The NHS remains the UK’s most beloved institution, but healthcare workers have not been properly valued. Their wages have been badly squeezed and even their pay rise this year is already three months overdue.
“On Thursday, we witnessed a historic victory by the Labour party that founded the NHS.
“As Nye Bevan said, the NHS will last as long as there’s folk left with the faith to fight for it. Now it’s down to the UK and Welsh Labour governments to work together to ensure Welsh people have a world class health system they can be proud of and healthcare workers who are rewarded fairly.”
UNISON is campaigning for a national care service delivered directly by local authorities and not private providers looking to make a profit.
Jess added: “Our social care system is broken because of privatisation and the profit motive that has driven down wages and job security.
“We cannot fix our NHS without also fixing social care. These services complement each other. If one is broken, it affects the other.
“Now, as a Labour movement, we must campaign together and build a national care service.
“Nye Bevan and the Labour Party had the bravery to build and create a new institution, it is not easy but also not impossible. Let’s get on with doing it.”
