Local Councils

Recent government announcements have revealed just how enormous local government cuts will be, with the poorest areas suffering the most; it has also become clear how devastating “efficiency savings” will be for frontline health services. In a move that even sections of the mainstream press are describing as “revenge”, the Tory-led coalition government has wielded the axe directly against Labour-controlled councils, in working-class areas, protecting Tory councils in richer areas from the worst of the cuts. In London alone, areas like Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Newham face cuts of nearly 9%...

The Scottish UNISON Council, made up of delegates from all branches in Scotland, has voted for a call that the Scottish Parliament and local councils should defy Tory cuts and set “needs budgets”. The vote was against the platform but by a clear majority. The meeting on 3 December also voted, unanimously, to raise with the other public sector trade unions the call for a one-day Scottish public sector strike against the cuts. This is the first time in the current anti-cuts agitation that a large body in the labour movement has raised the call for councils to defy the cuts. Solidarity has been...

In many areas Labour councillors say they will “fight the cuts” — but also implement them! They say they have no choice. In fact they can and should use their council positions as platforms to mobilise to defy the cuts. The alternative is not a little harmless trimming. Central government is set to cut councils’ funding by 25% over the next four and a half years. Since much that councils do is “statutory” — background stuff that they must do, by law — a 25% cut is huge social destruction. Poplar’s Labour council, in 1921, and the Labour council of the town of Clay Cross, in 1972-4, upheld the...

Warwickshire County Council has become the latest public sector employer in the West Midlands to announce devastating cuts, with the GMB union revealing that nearly 2000 jobs will be axed as part of a proposed 26% spending cut. This represents the loss of over 12% of the council's total staff, excluding teachers and firefighters. Inevitably, these cuts will hit some of the poorest and most vulnerable people hardest. They will see a 20% job-loss in adult social care, meaning that, for example, adults with learning disabilities could go without vital support. An entire youth service will be lost...

Poplar Labour council's fight against another Tory/Liberal coalition government, in 1921, and the battle by the Labour council in the village of Clay Cross, Derbyshire, against Tory laws imposing council rent rises in the early 1970s, shows that councils can take on the government and win. Click here to read more, in the 1985 AWL pamphlet, "Illusions of Power: the local government left 1979-85 . And click here for the 1986 pamphlet, "Liverpool: what went wrong". In the early 1980s there was a bigger flurry of defiance by Labour councils. Sadly, every single one of them backed down in the end -...

Hannah MacMillan works as a support worker in the north of England. Tell us a bit about the work you do. I’m a support worker for adults with learning disabilities, for a private “not for profit” company in. I provide one-to-one support to enable people to be as independent as possible and enjoy their lives. This includes helping them to access local government services as well as the wider community. It’s such a brilliant job — not even just in a “rewarding” way, but in an actual “I really enjoy my work” kind of way. Do you and your workmates get the pay and conditions you deserve? Definitely...

On Saturday 30 October around 200 people demonstrated against the closure of five (out of 12) Lewisham libraries. The turn out was good and the response from passers by was positive. However the demonstration also exposed the fault lines in the anti-cuts campaigns. Two Labour MPs and one local Labour councillor were the only speakers at the opening rally. This caused some anger on the demonstration. AWL members and others started a chant of “vote no to the cuts” when the councillor was speaking. Unfortunately the Socialist Party and the local campaign People Before Profit shouted over this...

Rhondda Cynon Taff council in South Wales has joined Neath and Port Talbot as the second Labour-controlled council to issue Section 188 notices to its workers in an attempt to force through worse terms and conditions. 10,000 workers face dismissal unless they agree to contractual changes that would result in a pay cut. The move was announced unilaterally by the council's HR director, Tony Wilkins. The GMB, which represents many of the workers, has refused to negotiate until the threat of sackings is lifted and has advised all members not to sign any new contracts. The council, which covers the...

Pete Davies, senior GMB organiser in Sheffield (where local government workers are facing savage cuts and the threat of mass redundancies), spoke to Solidarity . We’re still locked in negotiations with the council. We’ve had two half-days of talks this week and we expect those to become regular. We’re braced for the announcement of a 30% cut, which will be between £211 and £220 million depending on which accountant you listen to. The council will be looking to introduce those cuts over three years, with 15% in 2011-12 then 7.5% the following two years. We find it extremely worrying that...

Several local authorities have sent out redundancy warning notices to large numbers of workers, in some cases to their entire workforce. There aim is to set the unions a choice: accept cuts in pay and conditions, or job cuts, or both. Councils in Sheffield, Croydon, Neath and Port Talbot, Walsall and Birmingham — as well as the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority — are all employing the tactic. The message from the bosses is explicit: “accept the changes we’re proposing or you’re sacked”. The public sector is the main bastion of organised labour in Britain. The meaningbehind this kind...