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Members of Newcastle Local once again headed for the hills for a day out in Northumberland, this time celebrating the July 19th victory over Franco's fascists in Barcelona.

July 19th 1936 saw our sister union in Spain, the CNT, in vicious street fighting around the Barcelona barracks. Successfully crushing the fascist uprising, the CNT went on to take control of the city and beyond, placing the running of all services, production and distribution firmly in the hands of the workers. The bravery of the actions of the CNT on July 19th 1936 has provided inspiration throughout generations since, showing another world is possible - one in which society can be run by the workers, for the workers, free from politicians and the State.

On 19. July 1936, the Spanish state collapsed, after the fascist militar coup. The  revolutionary working class expelled the military from many areas of the country and made the most developed experience of self-management that eever happened. Eventually the Spanish Revolution failed both due to its enemies and its own mistakes.
Today, almost 80 years later, our intention is not to create a myth, beautiful but harmless. We want to recover this part of the history of the Spanish revolutionaires which is the history of all freedom lovers and, of course, give tribute to those who gave their lives for the emancipation of humanity.

Healthcare should be available to all. The need for care outweighs any excuse to restrict access to healthcare, for example whether they have the ability to pay or where they have come from. Yet the Immigration Act of 2014 is trying to reverse this. It affects many areas of life such as housing and health. The aim of it is to punish those who are vulnerable. It is part of an ideology that is racist, and aims to divert attention away from those who benefit from capitalism, stigmatising other areas of society.

This pamphlet, written by members of Brighton SolFed’s Health and Social Care Network, with support from Brighton Migrant Solidarity and Docs Not Cops, looks at how it is affecting the NHS and how it aims to make health workers do the dirty work of the government by policing the people they treat. This is through administrative oppression creating gatekeepers to health.

The Brighton SolFed Health & Social Care network holds drop-in surgeries on the last Monday of each month. The next one will be on Monday 27th July, 7 - 9 pm at the Saint Georges Tavern, near Sussex County Hospital (33 Upper Sudeley Street, Kemp Town, BN2 1HE).

We recently launched our new pamphlet on the implications of the Immigration Act for NHS workers, including ways to collectively sabotage the attempt to make frontline health workers gatekeepers to the state's anti-migrant agenda.

We welcome all workers in the sector, whether NHS, private, or voluntary / charity.

If you've any workplace issues you'd like to discuss with SolFed members working in health or social care, then come along on Monday.