Just about thawed out from standing from 7.30 'til bout 2 pm on the picket line at the hospital.  Many stewards and activists had chosen to join the marches at Newcastle and Middlesbrough, however there were still 9 of us who turned up at 7.30. Following this, others turned up to take up the placards and leafleting.  There were very few cars who passed onto the premises without either stopping to take a leaflet or who turned back.  There was overwhelming support from passing motorists, especially wagon drivers, one of whom stopped to leave a large bag of toffees for us (strange, but thoughtful).  A few RCN members who hadn't been balloted turned up with supporting tee-shirts during their breaks, and brought us flasks of tea and coffee.  One worker in particular struck me as being very representative of those who were taking strike action.  He was coming off backshift at about 8 am, and was obviously not returning for his night shift.  An ex-miner who had lived through the dark times of the miners' strike and had gone into nursing afterwards expressed his total support for the strike action and stated that the pension issue, although very important, was only the tip of the ice-berg in the public sector, citing cuts in pay and working conditions, stressful conditions and practices which were harmful to patient care and safety.

 This obviously makes a lie of the Tory/Lib Dem attitude of the irresponsible public workers taking strike action which would harm patient care.  The general mood on the picket line was actually of optimism that workers  were taking action together, and the spirit of solidarity experienced with workers and public passers- by was definitely worth the very cold stint today.  Most of the workers expressed the opinion that this was just the beginning, and watch out this government for the unity and strength of the workers uniting.