7/31/2019 SP Leeds City Council Bulletin 4 (July 2012)

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Over recent months activists inLeeds Unison have been debatingLeeds City Councils latest final

offer as part of its 3 year cutspackage and now we will beballoting our members. Last year,

the Labour-led Council acceptedas much as 90 million worth ofcuts, which resulted in over athousand staff members takingvoluntary redundancy through itsEarly Leavers Initiative. This year,the Council has cut as much as55 million that will see servicescut to the bone.

The Council are chipping away at

the Managing Workforce Change(MWC) policy; reducing the perioda staff member is inredeployment. This is anunderhand way of makingredundancies. With reduced staffpressures on services there willbe fewer posts to fill. It alsowants to erode the pay-protectionwhere staff are matched to postswithin a lower pay grade.

Our employer also wants to trial aChristmas closedown in buildingsand services where there is littleor no contact with the public.They want you to take 3 days ofyour annual leave over that

period whilst offering anadditional day annual leave on24th December.

Over the last 3 years the Councilhas done away with Bank HolidayTuesdays. This year staff whohave been affected over thisperiod will be given a one off100 payment and receive threeextra statutory days holidays. For

the remainder of 2012, one daywill be added to be taken at anytime.

To encourage greater flexibleworking our employer is offeringall staff up to 3 planned daysunpaid leave.

The Labour group on the Councilare wringing their hands about

the fact thatwe employeeshave had nopay rise in 3years and arethereforeoffering a one-off payment tothose in Band

A orequivalent

grade of up to150.

This offer if accepted will affectthe most vulnerable amongst ourmembers the lowest paid andthose under pressure anddemoralised due to workingharder. Our members, many of

whom are very loyal to theservices we provide every day,many to the most vulnerable inour society, have seen manychanges that are detrimental toour working lives less staffmeans an increasing workloadthat increases pressure andsickness levels.

There are many other cuts that

are being carried out all aroundus throughout the Council. Manyessential services particularly inSocial Services are finding itharder to meet the needs ofthose that rely on them. Some ofour services are faced withreduced contact time with thepublic, harder access or simplyface closure.

This offer is divisive anddangerous, asking us to surrenderpay and holidays to help thecouncil impose the Con Dem cuts.We cannot agree to throwourselves over the cliff when thisCouncil should be standing up tothis government and defending

ALL jobs and services. In aprolonged period of economicuncertainty making a stand now

by rejecting the offer and unitingto defend our jobs and services isthe only way opposing the cuts.

Say NO to a deterioration of your

service conditions!

Reject the Councils latest final offer!

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

Leeds Council Bulletin - Issue 4, July 2012

UNISON must take action & fight cuts to jobs and services

7/31/2019 SP Leeds City Council Bulletin 4 (July 2012)

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The recent Unison conferenceoverwhelmingly supported theresolution to affiliate to the TamilSolidarity campaign.

A historic step forward for buildinginternational working class solidarity,this is believed to be the first time thestruggle of the Tamils has beendiscussed by a national trade unionconference.

The resolution urges Unison branchesto invite a speaker from TamilSolidarity to address meetings andUnison members should get in touchwith the campaign to arrange this.

On Saturday 23 June, Tamil Solidarityheld a meeting aimed at youngpeople who had been active in therecent protests against the visit by SriLankan president Rajapaksa. With the

blood of thousands of Tamil-speakingpeople on his hands, Rajapaksa'sinvite to the Jubilee aroused hugeanger. Protests were successful in

forcing him to cancel a speakingengagement with British big business.

The excellent meeting discussed theworld context of the struggle forTamil rights in Sri Lanka, with reportsof building Tamil Solidarity inMalaysia and Tamil Nadu, India.Further action was planned includinga meeting against the land grab on30 June, linking up with othercampaigns and participation of aTamil Solidarity team in Youth Fightfor Jobs' Austerity Games for theOlympics.

For more info on Tamil Solidarity see:www.tamilsolidarity.org

Leeds Council Bulletin - Issue 4

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

Join the Socialists!The Socialist Party argues for

more than just fighting thecuts. As long as capitalism

exists working people will face

a future of uncertainly. Whatwe gain today, the bosses will

try to take back tomorrow asthey are doing with the NHS.

We need an alternative way ofrunning society, a socialist

society, based on meeting theneeds of the many by planning

production in that directionrather than making profits for a

few at the top. To do this we

need to take the banks andthe other monopolies that

dominate our economy intopublic ownership and run them

democratically. The SocialistParty is made up of ordinary

people like you, so if youagree then join us in the

struggle for socialism.

We campaign for the following:

Stop all cuts and closures.Oppose compulsoryredundancies and fight forevery job

No to privatisation and thePublic Finance Initiative(PFI). Bring all privatisedcouncil services back in-house.

Organise agency and part-time workers. No to a two-

tier workforce. Defend every service. Fight

for the council to set a needsbudget rather than doingCamerons dirty work for him.

Trade unions to disaffiliatefrom New Labour, whosecouncillors are cuttingcouncil jobs and servicesin Leeds, and supportcandidates opposed to allcuts.

Link up with service users,anti-cuts groups andcommunity campaigns todefend all public services.

Unison Backs Tamil Solidarity

Young Tenants Fight Back! campaignOver the summer, Leeds Youth Fightfor Jobs will be launching the YoungTenants Fight Back! campaign to fightthe Tories attacks on housing,i n c lu d in g t h e i r m o s t r e ce n tannouncement that they are looking atscrapping housing benefit for under-25s.

Although most reportage highlights theincreasing cost of housing in London,housing is becoming increasinglyunaffordable, especially for youngpeople, across the country.

The average rent for a two-bedroomproperty in Leeds is 620 per monthcompared to 470 per month inneighbouring Bradford, 150 more amonth and a whopping 1,800 more

per year just for living in aneighbouring borough.

The average rent for a one-bedroomproperty is 472 per month, about

roughly half of what someone workinga full time job on the minimum wagewould earn, and thats if they are over21 and before council tax and utilitiesbills, regardless of things like feedingthemselves.

Young Tenants Fight back will be

highlighting this and other issues aswe campaign over the summer. Wewill be gathering signatures for apetition to Leeds City Council to getthem to act on some of the immediateissues as well as back our broadercampaigning.

F o r m o r e i n f o s e ewww.yorkshireyfj.wordpress.com/young-tenants-fightback

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