TUC 2025, starting this Sunday 7th September!
Visit us at stand 15 and join our fringe meeting in the conference centre on Mon 8th Sept 12:45-2pm.
See you there!
About the Socialist Health Association.
Since 1930 the Socialist Health Association (originally called the Socialist Medical Association) has been a democratic, member led, socialist organisation and very much part of the labour movement. Unions are key for us – poverty pay, bad working and living conditions are a major cause of ill health.
Picture: SHA on the Liverpool dockers picket line with MPs
Tory papers like the Telegraph demand that we do not march with or defend unions. We reject this demand.
Picture: Nurses picket line in London.
Since we were set up we have spoken and acted in support of refugees fleeing oppression. Then, as now, we consider refugees are not the cause of housing shortages or hospital waiting lists. Indeed if unionised and allowed to work they are part of the solution.
The SHA is proud to be part of a broad umbrella coalition of health campaigns, SOS NHS, which organises protests and lobbies publicly.
We are a socialist organisation and, like some unions, we affiliate to Labour, we send delegates and put motions to Labour Conference (and support union motions), we do the same at constituency Labour Parties, in some English regions and at Labour bodies in Scotland and Wales. 2025 motions we are supporting.
We strongly oppose the Tufton Street corporate lobbyists who appear to control Labour health policy. At every opportunity we call for and campaign for a publicly provided NHS. The NHS is being turned into a cash cow for corporate interests. We are proposing a rule change to end corporate lobbying of Labour ministers.
From our history:
Thora Silverstone, SMA organising secretary, nurse and union organiser was a member of the health worker team who went to republican Spain during the 1936-1939 Civil War. We, working with the TUC, helped establish a field hospital just behind Republican lines. On her return Thora was part of our leadership who campaigned in Labour for the creation of an NHS.
She was an important working class leader in the fight for unionisation of health workers, for the NHS and internationalism.
For more on Thora see https://sochealth.co.uk/2025/09/06/sha-at-the-tuc/
If you want to join the SHA – or you want to affiliate your union at branch, regional or national level please go to the join page.