TUSC Doncaster mayoral candidate and NHS worker Steve Williams (left)

TUSC Doncaster mayoral candidate and NHS worker Steve Williams (left)   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

TUSC is pleased to announce that Steve Williams will be standing as the TUSC candidate for Doncaster mayor in the May elections.

Steve is the chair of the Doncaster District and Bassetlaw Unison health branch, with a decades-long record of fighting for the NHS.

Steve says: “I’ve worked in the NHS for 27 years as a mental health nurse. Thirty years ago I stood on miners’ picket lines fighting Thatcher’s attack on our communities. Now I am a Unison public services union shop steward and marched last month with up to 250,000 others to save our NHS.

“Social care in Doncaster has been devastated by the council closing homes and privatising services. I was proud to stand with the Doncaster Care UK workers who took 90 days of strike action in 2014 against the privatisation of their service.

Cuts

“Although I support Jeremy Corbyn’s anti-austerity message, nothing has changed in Doncaster where the Labour mayor and council have carried out the Tory cuts of £109 million in the last three years, closing libraries, residential homes, children’s centres and leisure facilities. They plan another £67 million cuts by 2021. There’ll be nothing left!

“If elected as mayor, I would stand up for local people and propose a budget based on the needs of Doncaster, not the demands of the Conservative government. I would rally the townspeople against the Tories to fight for the funding we need to protect our jobs and services.

“There has been a huge increase in homelessness in Doncaster. As mayor, I would take emergency measures to open unused council buildings to offer temporary shelter for those living rough on the streets and I would use the council’s borrowing powers to finance a massive council house-building programme.

“I supported the Women’s Lives Matter campaign against the closure of the Women’s Aid centre that provides support for sufferers of domestic violence. I would restore guaranteed council funding to sustain this vital service.

“I also support the Fire Brigade Union’s campaign to keep the second night-time appliance at Doncaster central fire station, especially as the Fire Authority has millions of pounds held in reserves.

“I oppose fracking in the former coalfields as it is a proven danger to the environment and public health. I’m also opposed to HS2 which is an expensive waste of money that will not benefit ordinary people in Doncaster”.

  • Come to the pre-election public meeting on Tuesday 2 May, starting at 7pm, at the Danum Hotel, High Street, Doncaster DN1 1DN
  • For more information contact Steve at [email protected]

The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is an anti-austerity electoral alliance including the transport union RMT, the Socialist Party, leading members of other trade unions and non-affiliated socialists and community campaigners.