Leeds Council Bulletin - Issue 2, August 2011

Leeds Unison:
Seek a strike ballot now!
Leeds Unison Local Government members have opposed the Councils latest offer by an overwhelming 85% with only 14.5 voting to accept out of a return of 31.3%. Having waited to see how the employer would implement the offer, Leeds City Council have provided a 90 day notice of variation to your employment contract regarding Managing Workforce Change and Pay Protection arrangements, which will take effect from 1st November and as nearly 50% of its expenditure is employees wages, up to and possibly over 3,000 jobs are intended to go by 2014. If the take up of the Early Leavers Initiative (ELI) scheme is not enough there may be a situation where there will be more staff in redeployment than there are posts to find.

Lobby the TUC

Call a 24hr public sector general strike against cuts and attacks on pensions.
Protest: Outside Congree House, London where the TUC will be meeting on Sunday 11th September. Transport from Leeds will be organised, for more info contact 07809839793

After the success of the strikes in defence of pension on June 30th Although members in GMB, Unite we need to make the next strike and Ucatt unions voted to accept an escalation with all public the offer, Leeds Unison should now lead by example and ballot its sector workers striking together. See overleaf for the latest... members for strike action now. With a majority of members who The changes to the Managing balloted rejecting the offer the potential service users. Sadly Workforce Change and Pay Unison can legally conduct a strike there have been some services Protection arrangements to that ballot that have been cut. For many of policy is effectively a deterioration us these cuts are creeping in on of your contract which Unison has However, it is likely that Unison the quiet. The Council wants its not agreed to and effectively nationally will attempt to block it employees to formally accept what means a reduction in the time the arguing that it has to approve any it is already doing. employer is obliged to find you industrial action, and under its work during redeployment and a rules we have to conduct an Leeds Unison must name the date reduction in pay protection if you indicative ballot before a strike for a lobby of the Council, a key are found a lower grade job. ballot. This is an attack on provision of the motion adopted at democracy and can be used to the branch AGM in case the The Council intends to reduce the dampen down any mood for council decided to proceed with its redeployment time limits because action. plans. of the budget restrictions it has, Many members have Additionally, Leeds Unison should already experienced a call a Saturday demonstration, deterioration of the quality built with support from the wider of service; greater anti-cuts movement to galvanise workloads, less staff to do the opposition to the Labour-led the work, fewer working Leeds City Council programme of harder, and thats just cuts. A success of the campaign through the ELI. so far against the cuts is the way in which students, other workers Already there has been and especially service users were 90m worth of cuts to drawn into the battle to defend service budgets so that we services. This must be continued offer less to service users and raised onto a higher level to UNISON must mobilise public opposition to cuts and tougher access to defeat these savage cuts.
Find out more: www.leedssocialistparty.wordpress.com / leedssp@hotmail.co.uk / Twitter: @leedssp

Leeds Council Bulletin - Issue 2

The Socialist Party argues for more than just fighting the cuts. As long as capitalism exists working people will face a future of uncertainly. What we gain today, the bosses will try to take back tomorrow as However, Tory minister Francis they are doing with the NHS. Maude has attempted to set council We need an alternative way of workers against other workers by running society, a socialist referring to the different funding society, based on meeting the The opposition to the cuts has had basis of local government pensions. needs of the many by planning its effect with the series of u-turns production in that direction that the government has made on a Rather than allowing the rather than making profits for a number of issues already, from the government to separate local few at the top. To do this we attempted privatisation of the government workers from other need to take the banks and forests to the pause over their public sector workers, as the other monopolies that plans to dismantle the NHS. This unfortunately happened when the dominate our economy into anger was visibly shown on the previous Labour government was public ownership and run them streets when 700,000+ marched for attacking public sector pensions democratically. The Socialist the alternative to cuts and capitalist back in 2005/6, the TUC should be Party is made up of ordinary crisis on March 26th. co-ordinating action across all public people like you, so if you sector unions for the autumn. agree then join us in the But marching for the alternative is struggle for socialism.
When the Con-Dem coalition came to power last year and announced their huge austerity measures they tried to make themselves appear indestructible. But the wave of walkouts, demonstrations and occupations by students in the autumn last year broke through their shallow confidence. can be accessed on the Socialist Party www.socialistparty.org.uk) Similar demands should be placed upon the leaderships of other public sector unions like UNITE and GMB. Thats why the National Shop We campaign for the following: Stewards Network (NSSN) has Stop all cuts and closures. called a lobby of the TUC when it Oppose compulsory meets in London on September redundancies and fight for 11th, an event which should be the every job focal rallying point for all wanting to No to privatisation and the see the leadership take action. Public Finance Initiative (PFI). Bring all privatised Left groups within UNISON, council services back inFor details of transport from Leeds including the Socialist Party, have house. to the lobby contact 07809839793 drawn up a motion calling on the Organise agency and partor e-mail leedssp@hotmail.com leadership of UNISON to name the time workers. No to a two(To sign the petition to be handed day for a co-ordinated strike of all tier workforce. in to the TUC please visit: http:// public sector unions. (The motion Defend every service. Fight www.shopstewards.net/sign.htm) for the council to set a needs budget rather than doing Camerons dirty work for him. Trade unions to disaffiliate Members in Touchstone, a voluntary This offer has been withdrawn and from New Labour, whose sector organisation that employs subsequent attempts at reaching a councillors are cutting housing support workers are in dispute settlement have been made but the 3,000 council jobs in over pay cuts affecting 1 in 3 staff. Cuts employers line is that they will not Leeds, and support are around 2k to 4k. Members have make any further offer. Currently the candidates opposed to all taken a total of 3 days action (a single members are being balloted over cuts. day followed by two consecutive) and indefinite action. The Leeds Socialist although a small sum of money was Party blog (see address at bottom) has Link up with service users, offered to members after the first day carried an article about the previous anti-cuts groups and of action, members voted to reject this strikes and will carry further updates on community campaigns to and continue the dispute. the dispute. defend all public services. not enough to stop this government, we need to strike for the alternative too. The four unions (PCS, NUT, ATL and UCU) that took strike action on June 30th have led the way. Now its time for the rest of us to follow suit.

Next Step to Defend Pensions

Join the Socialists!

Update on Touchtone Dispute

Find out more: www.leedssocialistparty.wordpress.com / leedssp@hotmail.co.uk / Twitter: @leedssp