Hospital parking fees ‘a tax on sick’ Marie tells TUC

by John Stevenson

Hospital car parking charges are ‘a tax on the sick’ Marie Garrity, chair of NHS Glasgow, Clyde and CVS Branch, told the TUC Congress in September.

In a speech punctuated with applause from delegates, Marie told about her branch’s campaign against the charges. “We lobbied the Scottish health minister, Nicola Sturgeon, and organised petitions and rallies. The outcome of all our hard work resulted in car parking charges being reduced from £7.00 per day to four hours free in the non-PFI sites”, she said.

Applause during the speech? Not bad for a seasoned TUC delegate. But this was Health Visitor Marie Garrity’s first TUC Congress and so her first speech to the TUC.

“I’ve watched the TUC Congress for years on the TV and my dad used to be right into it when he was alive, but I never thought that one day I would be there”, said Marie.

Talking to SiU after a dreadful night stuck for hours in her car in the snow, Marie, an NHS employee for 34 years and an activist in Nupe and UNISON for 18 years, still managed to be really enthusiastic.

“The TUC was a fantastic experience. It was great to hear that there were still rousing speeches and wonderful to see all the people you normally only see on TV. Ed Balls was at the next table to us in the hotel!”

Marie enjoyed the Labour leader hustings and her visit to the Pensioners Forum meeting in particular. “The forum demonstrated that there is still so much to get involved in even after retirement”, she said.

But most of all, it was the reception to her speech that made her week. “I didn’t really have time to get nervous because, with the programme running late, I only got a few minutes warning that I was to get up”, said Marie.

“I think I was also fired up by the fact that this was a campaign that was so dear to my branch’s heart. It probably only sank in when I sat down after the speech and the adrenaline was still pumping”, she added.

Marie has been elected to the STUC delegation for the first time this year and that is her next target!

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