Unite brands 2,000 Manchester city council job cuts as ‘savage’
13 January 2011
Plans to axe 2,000 jobs at Manchester city council because of
government spending cuts was condemned today (Thursday 13 January)
by Unite, the largest union in the country, as ‘savage’.
Unite, which has 250,000 members in the public sector, said the
effect on services, such as environmental services (bin
collection), children and youth services, schools and the care of
old people, would be felt ‘pretty quickly’.
Unite’s members are considering a consultative ballot for
industrial action in protest at the scale and speed of the cuts
which, it is understood, that the council wants to implement by the
end of March this year.
Unite regional officer, Keith Hutson, said: ”Our members are
outraged. This is the clear result the coalition’s austerity
measures and cutbacks to local government funding announced before
Christmas. It will have a devastating effect on services and the
people that use them.
”Unite will campaign to reverse these savage cuts which will hit
some of the most vulnerable in society – but these cuts won’t
impact on the bonus-riddled City elite that caused the financial
crisis in the first place.
”Unite members will be considering a consultative ballot for
industrial action to stop these cuts to a hard-working and
dedicated workforce, providing important services to the
community.“
The Labour-run council said it needed to reduce its workforce by
about 17 per cent after changes to local authority grants left a
big gap in its finances. It needs to find £110 million of savings
in 2011-12 - £60 million more than expected. The council said it
wanted to avoid compulsory redundancies.
Unite national organiser for services, Peter Allenson, said:
”Unfortunately, what is happening in Manchester is being replicated
across the country. The tally for job losses in local government
will run into tens of thousands.
”As a result, vital public services that people have taken for
granted for the past 50 years will either disappear or exist only
in a skeletal form, and probably run by profiteering private
companies.“
ENDS
Notes to news editors:
For further information, please contact: Keith Hutson on 07798
531005, Peter Allenson on 07980 721 434 or Unite communications
officer, Shaun Noble on 07768 693940
