United Voice Press Release: Wed 02 Mar 11 Officials and members from United Voice were involved in a protest against public hospital privatisation which blocked the traffic on St George’s Terrace this morning. Commuters were held up for around 90 minutes before police moved seven cars which stopped the traffic in front of the Premier’s office in Governor Stirling Tower.
United Voice organised for the keys of the cars blocking the terrace to be brought to the scene as soon as police said it was a public safety issue.
They were thoroughly searched before police handed the keys back to union officials. It is not yet known whether United Voice WA will be charged over the incident.
The protest was organised to highlight that the government is poised to sign a contract worth an estimated $3.2bn with Serco to run 31 essential services at what is supposed to be WA’s flagship new hospital – Fiona Stanley. Serco are a faceless corporation with no experience of running hospitals in Australia. The government has released no business case justifying why they have decided to privatise Fiona Stanley despite the enormity of the contract involved.
United Voice has tried to get the business case released via the Freedom of Information process but the Premier and his cabinet ministers have refused access.United Voice blockade Independent research by WAOP has also found that privatisation in hospitals is also hugely unpopular with voters. And yet the Barnett government has persisted.
Carolyn Smith, assistant secretary of United Voice, said: “If you thought this protest created disruption, just think about the disruption which will be caused by privatisation in our hospitals.
“When governments have tried it before it has been disastrous and costly for patients and members of staff. At RPH, privatised cleaning led to a superbug outbreak, costing millions to clean up. At Charlies, when orderly services were privatised, staffing numbers were halved and patients ended up waiting in hospital corridors for hours.
“The Barnett government is about to roll out a contract worth more than $3bn to Serco with no business case to justify it, no evidence to prove it’s the best course of action for people in WA and without taking this major policy to the people at the last state election.
“From the FOI requests we have had back, it appears Serco’s lobbyists started aggressively courting the Barnett government just one month after Colin Barnett was elected. This contract has been on the cards since then. “We think this secrecy and flagrant disregard for the electorate is so outrageous it’s worth stopping the traffic for. “And once people in the queue and passers-by realised why they were being delayed, the feedback they were giving our members was mostly positive. “Start listening to voters Mr Barnett and stop this onslaught of privatisation while you still can!”
http://unitedvoice.org.au/news/blockade-against-hospital-privatisation-o...