London fights the cuts

Here is the text of an article that I wrote for http://www.labourbriefing.org.uk/ November issue out now so make sure you get your copy for all the content :)

UNISON activists from across London local government took the opportunity of the RMT/FBU demonstration on 23 October to share information about local anti-cuts activities around the City.

In Barnet, where the Council proposes wholesale privatisation and 440 job cuts, the UNISON branch is seeking approval to ballot and gearing up for a Bonfire Night lobby.

In Camden, where 270 jobs are at immediate risk, activists were greatly encouraged by the turnout of between 3 and 5 thousand on the March on Downing Street on 20 October and are preparing for a mass lobby of the Council on 1 December.

Even in leafy Havering trade union opposition to the cuts has made news in the Romford Recorder (as I blogged earlier) as the unions prepare to lobby the Council on 16 November.

In Lambeth where 400 jobs are at risk, activists are preparing for a local demonstration on 30 October as the UNISON Branch organises a consultative ballot.

In Lewisham, UNISON members in Libraries are asking to be balloted against cuts which have already provoked community campaigns and are changing the mood of the local branch.

In Southwark, where the Council is planning a thousand job cuts over three years, workers are flocking to join the Union, which has held its biggest lobby for years and is organising a public meeting on 4 November.

In Ealing effective resistance to early cuts has led to the postponement of planned Closures of Day Centres. A public meeting is planned for 11 November.

In the London Fire and Civil Defence Authority members of UNISON and GMB are awaiting official strike ballots to enable them to join FBU members taking action against attacks on conditions of service.

In the mean time activists in Croydon are building from a hundred strong lobby on 18 October towards strike action in defence of conditions of service.

UNISON activists in London local government need to ensure that there branches are represented at the Regional planning event on 9 November to ensure that the region coordinate action against the cuts.

For any more reports please feel free to comment or email them into me - we need to unite and fight these cuts
MarshaJanexxwww.unionfutures.blogspot.comSent with Instant Email from T-Mobile

Social cleansing via HB cap

The housing benefit cap will not save the government money it will just force lower income and families who rely on benefits out of london.

As the observer states today:

"Councils in the capital are warning that 82,000 families – more than 200,000 people – face losing their homes because private landlords, enjoying a healthy rental market buoyed by young professionals who cannot afford to buy, will not cut their rents to the level of caps imposed by ministers."

(Full article http://bit.ly/cxTBUG)

Of course Local councils still have a statutory duty to house vulnerable people and families so all those who are evicted will go through the trauma of the homeless system - there is a severe shortage of council housing with waiting lists of thousands of people in london so where do local authorities place families?

-back into the private sector where the hb cap will ensure they still can't pay enough rent and will go back through the system in a few months time?

-into expensive bed and breakfasts which will cost far much more than the private sector housing did in the first place?

- back into the private sector with the local authority or the dwp through the discretionary housing payments paying a monthly amount on top of the hb cap.

Again from the observer today:

"A DWP spokesperson said: "The current way that it [housing benefit] is administered is unfair. It's not right that some families on benefits have been able to live in homes that most working families could not afford. However, we are absolutely committed to supporting the most vulnerable families and have tripled our discretionary housing payments to provide a safety net for those who need it."

So they have tripled the dhp payments - this is just central government forcing the costs of housing onto the local council who will pay through the nose for it.

It will not save any money overall or help bring any deficit down it will just drive poorer people out of city centres.

MarshaJanexxwww.unionfutures.blogspot.comSent with Instant Email from T-Mobile

Unions in Havering speak out against the cuts

From the romford recorder.

http://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/news/300_council_jobs_on_the_line_after_chancellor_s_cuts_1_687474


UP to 300 council job losses now seem inevitable after Wednesday's Comprehensive Spending Review

Unions have been in negotiation with Havering's administration for months after the council announced its contingency plan back in July, naming 509 people at risk of redundancy.

Social work, customer service, street cleaning, social care, libraries and leisure centres are all at risk areas.

Agency workers, not included in the council's chop list, could also have a huge affect, and would be the first to go.

Social workers and planning officers will have to take on more administrative tasks.

Havering branch secretary for Unison, Garry Chick-Mackay, said: "There's clearly going to be an impact on services. The employer is saying that these are back office jobs but these workers are not just twiddling their thumbs wasting taxpayers' money, they're doing work that otherwise the frontline workers would have to do."

Mr Chick-Mackay said a 25 per cent cut in customer service staff was on the way.

The council is also planning to remove environmental health officers from noise pollution investigations and prosecutions – advising residents how to do it themselves instead, he said.

"If you're an elderly resident sitting at home with problem neighbours causing misery for you don't want to be told you have to take them to court."

Sean Ramsden, branch secretary for the Unite union was one of hundreds of union members who attended a mass rally on Tuesday against the cuts.

He said losing agency workers could have a devastating impact on services, adding that the cuts would hit the vulnerable in Havering as rank and file employees and middle managers would go rather than council executives.

He added: "The chief executive is on £60,000 more a year than the prime minister, that's a saving right there. Do we need as many directors?

"It doesn't help with councillors awarding themselves above inflation expenses; they should start looking at themselves."

Mr Ramsden also condemned the Government's plans to put up social housing rents.

"People will be made homeless, it doesn't help the situation. "The working classes rely on social housing, it's a blow to the working classes.
MarshaJanexxwww.unionfutures.blogspot.comSent with Instant Email from T-Mobile

Start of the fightback: persuading the General Public (or the General Council?)

After a very good march of 3thousand people from lincolns inn fields to a vibrant rally at downing street, I've come into the warmth of parliament to the Labour Representation Committee meeting to listen to various trade union general secretary's talk about how we will coordinate the fightback and on how the csr will impact them, Steve Gillan, the new General Secretary of the Prison Officers Association, has described his first meeting of the TUC General as an "eye-opener" in the context of the need for united action by the trade unions to resist the cuts.

He has made clear that if there are moves to privatise public sector prisons, the POA will take strike action and defy the anti-union laws. This is the spirit we need from our union leaders generally.

We also need to look imaginatively at how we could coordinate strike action within the law - the BBC has an interesting report on this subject (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11577573). The FBU and RMT are looking at coordinating action on 1 November.

We need this approach from UNISON.
MarshaJanexxwww.unionfutures.blogspot.comSent with Instant Email from T-Mobile