1000 Jobs To Be Cut At Bristol City Council

Marvin Rees (right) - Labour mayor doing the bidding of Tory chancellors past and present

TUSC calls on Marvin Rees to reverse decision and fight for necessary funding

Bristol Labour mayor Marvin Rees has announced the cutting of 1000 jobs from Bristol City Council, almost 1 in 6 of the workforce. This is part of a package of £43m cuts, additional cuts of some £60m planned by Rees over the next 4 years will further devastate jobs and services in Bristol.

The Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) demands that Rees reverses these job cuts and campaigns for the funding stolen by the Tory government to be returned.

Anti-cuts campaigners and trade unions representing council staff have also raised their concerns. The Unite, Unison and GMB unions all have positions nationally of calling on councils not to make cuts and to use reserves and borrowing powers to protect services while demanding more funding from central government.

TUSC former mayoral candidate and Bristol Socialist Party member, Tom Baldwin said:

“It seems that Jeremy Corbyn’s call for opposition to austerity has not reached every level of the Labour Party. These cuts are being driven by the Tory government but here we have a Labour mayor putting forward an eye-watering package of redundancies.

“This will be seen as a betrayal by many of the people who voted for Marvin Rees hoping for a change from the cuts made by George Ferguson. Libraries and care were amongst the areas cut in the last 4 years. Services will be decimated by the latest round of cuts, let alone the extra £60m cuts Rees says he ‘must’ make.

“Austerity is a political choice by the Tory government. They’ve found money to cut taxes for the rich but are cutting council budgets to the bone. Our mayor needs to be exposing this hypocrisy and sticking up for his staff and the vital services they provide, not acting as the Tories’ hatchet man.

 “During this year’s elections TUSC were the only party to consistently warn of the impact of council cuts in the coming years. That’s because we were the only party with a plan to fight those cuts and stick up for jobs and services in this city.

“We call for a no-cuts budget that is based on what Bristol needs and the building of a mass campaign to push back the Tory government and reverse the swingeing cuts they’ve made. The council has significant reserves which should be used, along with prudential borrowing powers, to plug the funding gap while the campaign is built. By mobilising unions, anti-cuts campaigners and the communities that will be hit by the cuts and by linking up with other Labour councils that are willing to fight, the Tory cuts can be overcome.

“Marvin Rees must now adopt that approach if he doesn’t want to be known as the mayor that butchered Bristol’s services. The need to challenge austerity in deeds, not just words, is greater than ever.”

Bristol To Be Hit By Even More Council Cuts

Marvin Rees announces another £100m to be cut from Bristol

Tory austerity must be challenged – mass anti-cuts campaigning needed

 

Marvin Rees, Bristol's new Labour mayor has revealed that the city council faces a funding shortfall of £100m by the end of his term of office in 2020. This is because of the cuts being imposed on spending by the Tory government.

 

Bristol is already reeling from over £100m cuts made by the previous mayor, George Ferguson. Coming on top of that, these additional cuts will hit jobs and services in the city even harder. Even Rees himself concedes that “there is little fat left to trim leaving us facing unpalatable options.” Those worst affected will be the less well-off and those with the greatest social needs. Making these cuts is not compatible with Rees’s stated aim of making Bristol a more equal city.

 

During the recent mayoral and council elections Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition candidates repeatedly warned that the new administration would end up making cuts on a huge scale if it was not prepared to stand up to the government and refuse to implement the austerity agenda. We called for a no-cuts budget based on the needs of the city, and a mass campaign to force the government to return the stolen funds. We will continue to campaign alongside ordinary people to resist this new threat to jobs and services.

 

Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) former mayoral candidate and Socialist Party member Tom Baldwin said:

“Just over a month ago Bristol voted in an election that saw an overwhelming desire for change in the city. But already we’re getting threats of massive cuts, wrapped in the talk of “tough choices” and “unpalatable options” – exactly as we’ve seen over the last few years. I’m sick of politicians talking about the tough decisions they face when those decisions are tough on us and not on them. More cuts of this scale will be disastrous for Bristol. If our new mayor is serious about making this city a more equal and better place to live then he must stop them. If he’s not prepared to stand up to this weak and divided government then he risks becoming just the latest Tory stooge – pushing their austerity agenda from City Hall.”

Support for TUSC rises in Bristol's elections

Bristol's mayoral election saw the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) vote rise by over 450 from 2012. TUSC candidate and Bristol Socialist Party member Tom Baldwin got 1,876 first preference votes. At the same time, TUSC's local council election candidates in Bristol picked up a total of 2827 votes, an increase of over 900 on last year. The best of these was 411 for Bristol Socialist Party member Chris Farrell in Ashley.

This election showed a thirst for change. Labour's Marvin Rees thrashed 'independent' incumbent George Ferguson as people turned their back on three and a half years of arrogance and austerity.
Given the swing to Labour, increasing our vote was impressive.

It remains to be seen whether a new mayor will mean the change of direction that is badly needed. The challenge is on for Labour to reverse the cuts made by the previous mayor. Unfortunately that was not offered by Marvin Rees during the election - he said we have to "pick our battles" when asked if he would pass on further Tory cuts of over £70 million.

TUSC got a great response to our policies of opposing austerity with a no-cuts, needs-based budget and a mass anti-cuts campaign to challenge the Tory government. The potential for such a campaign is there. Campaigning has won victories in Bristol recently, reversing closure plans for six libraries and virtually all public toilets.

During the election TUSC campaigners spoke to people on doorsteps and stalls, put out thousands of leaflets, spoke at several hustings and appeared in all the local media. We had to work harder than the establishment candidates, lacking their money. Campaigning does not stop and start with elections for TUSC and the Socialist Party. We'll continue to stand alongside working class people across the city to defend our living standards, jobs and services.

Save Bristol's Libraries!

Protecting our libraries has been an important part of Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition campaigning in Bristol. 7 libraries are set to be closed in a cut put forward by the independent mayor and his cross-party cabinet. Scandalously this closure programme has been fronted by the Green Party assistant mayor. Despite their avowed opposition to cuts they are at the sharp end of implementing Tory austerity. Saving our libraries and other services requires principled and consistent opposition to the cuts, in actions, not just words.

Local people will fight to save their libraries and we will stand with them. In many cases these are the only resource that communities have left. They are used by people across the generations and provide far more than just books. Below is an eyewitness account of one library user's experiences and how vital the service was to him.

Tom Baldwin

"In September last year I found myself evicted and unemployed, while I never had to sleep on the streets not having a place of your own still comes with its problems.  Due to my low mood and feeling of helplessness I started to drink, a lot.  I thought there was no way out and even one day called 999 to tell them that "a friend" was considering taking his life.  Of course the friend was me and the ambulance crew came and did their duty, but that is a different story.

"After hitting rock bottom I thought that I had to do something, and do something fast.  While I do have friends in Bristol I am from Belfast so I have no immediate family here.  And my friends were not in position to do much other than the occasional night on the sofa.

"Being homeless and without a internet capable phone I went to the local Bedminster library.  In my first session there I found a homeless charity, St Mungos, who I registered with and was able to get a free meal once a day.  They also helped me with the council as in getting on the homeless register.  So that was one meal a day sorted out and at least a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. 

"On the job front, I was able to use the library to search all of the main job sites, alter my CV and scan legal documents when required.  Again, the light at the end of the tunnel got a little brighter.

"While all of this seems logical and something that you would expect, there is another less tangible way the library helped me.  It gave me something to do, I was living in a squat with no amenities or facilities, literally sleeping on the floor in an empty room.  So each day when I woke up I knew that I could go to either Bedminster library for one hour internet or the central library for two hours.  Add to this that I was now attending interviews and able to go to St Mungos, this gave me some structure and hope.

"As of writing this today, I am in a job that I like, I viewed a property last night, again, found on the internet using the library, and it looks like I will be moving in next week.

"I have learnt a lot in the past months, about taking responsibility for yourself, about support there is out there for you and how important something that people take for granted, a local library, can be a life saver.

"I think the proposed cuts to the libraries are a disgrace and will put further pressure on people that rely on them, not just for books and education but for other services that people tend to forget about."

Sean R

The 1% ‘walk tall’ while the 99% are bowed by austerity

Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition press release on today's budget:
TUSC Chair and ex-Labour MP Dave Nellist said: “Hoping to gain a few extra votes, the Chancellor has tried to sell this budget as a little relief from the endless austerity he has offered up for the last five years. It is nothing of the sort. The coalition once again banged the austerity drum, promising £30 billion worth of cuts, including £12 billion from welfare. George Osborne says austerity is working but the queues at food banks and pay day lenders tell a different story.

“This government of millionaires might think things are improving, but most ordinary workers are facing a Dickensian future rather than a bright recovery. George Osborne says wages have started to increase but – that is only if you include bankers’ bonuses in the figures! In fact they are still lower than they were before the ‘Great Recession’ – for young people a massive 12.5% lower. A 20p an hour increase in the minimum wage is a drop in the ocean compared to that. TUSC is campaigning for an immediate £10 an hour minimum wage for all with no exemptions.

“No one who has experienced five years of Con-Dem government will be surprised by this budget, but where is the opposition? Labour also promises continued austerity. When Osborne put his plans for £30 billion worth of cuts under the next government to parliament only five Labour MPs voted against it!

“It is time to take a stand. That is why the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition has attracted a record number of anti-austerity candidates in the elections on 7 May 2015.”

Bristol Demo - No to Budget Cuts!

Video of the 8th Feb demonstration of hundreds in Bristol against council budget cuts, organised by Save Our City.

BADACA: Questioning Ferguson’s Cuts…

At tonight’s (24/01/13) meeting of Bristol mayor Ferguson’s cuts cabinet BADACA submitted the following statement…

To mayor George Ferguson:

When elected you promised a new approach to politics. Just a few months later and the reality is disappointingly familiar. The £35m of cuts in your budget will mean jobs lost and services under attack. Community transport and children’s centres are just two of things that will be hit. You’ve raised council tax by 2%, faster than wages and benefits are rising. Making people pay more for less is a kick in the teeth at a time when its getting harder to make ends meet. With another £65m due to be made over the next 3 years Bristol’s services will be butchered unless this assault can be stopped.

We note you have joined representatives of other cities in criticising the government’s cuts to council budgets. We agree, but those words will ring hollow as long as you continue to do the government’s dirty work and pass on the cuts to Bristolians. Ordinary people are sick of being made to pay for the bankers’ crisis and they’re sick of politicians who say one thing and do another.

These cuts are not a force of nature, they can be stopped. They’re being pushed by a Tory government hell bent on making the rich richer and the rest of us worse off. Letters alone won’t sway them from this course, we need a mass campaign to win back the money they’ve stolen from the city. That would be far stronger if you refused to implement the cuts and made the case for protecting our jobs and services. Otherwise the young, elderly and infirm are once again being sacrificed so that the rich and powerful can continue with their gold-plated lifestyles. Making these cuts breaks your promise to ”not leave this city any less but rather greater than I found it.”

We call upon you to throw out this cuts budget and consult on a one based upon what Bristol needs. We call upon anyone with a conscience to refuse to take part in a cuts cabinet.

While these attacks continue the Bristol and District Anti-Cuts Alliance will fight them cuts by every means necessary. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with council employees, trade unions and service users. There will be no hiding places for the cutters, as we expose the true effects of your damaging vandalism through a relentless series of lobbies, demonstrations and direct actions.

No to all cuts to jobs and services!

The statement was moved in the council chamber by BADACA’s Tom Baldwin.

Questions to the mayor were also submitted by others including Bristol City Unison’s Branch Secretary, Steve Mills and various councillors.

In a show of arrogant disregard for the democratic process, mayor Ferguson questioned the mechanism by which members of the public, pressure groups & even elected councillors can question the mayor & the cabinet…

LibDem councillor, Gary Hopkins asked:

“Have you decided to stop giving responses to Cllrs and members of the public who put in statements or will you continue with the previous practice?”

To which the mayor replied:

“This is semantic quibbling and is not a good use of anybody’s time, and I’d ask you yet again to think carefully about how you use the question system to ask me about matters of policy rather than abusing it by making partisan points…”

Steve Mills of Unison asked a series of perfectly legitimate questions on behalf of his members, many of whom are facing redundancy under Ferguson’s swingeing cuts. However Ferguson in his responses attacks Steve & his members saying things like:

“You ask nine questions disguised as one in a manner that does not fill me with confidence that you mean to work co-operatively as I would have hoped from a responsible trade union. This kind of question brings the system into disrepute…”

“I am unused to this naked political form of questioning that I am sure has nothing to do wit Bristol’s welfare or care of your members and is all to do with Party point scoring in place of responsible involvement.”

And… “I have to say I am certainly not encouraged by the naked political nature of these questions to meet the questioner but I did meet with a dozen or so Trade Union representatives on the very morning I released my budget proposals to begin that very conversation, and we had a constructive discussion of the difficult circumstances which we find ourselves in.”

Clearly, Ferguson as an ‘independent’ considers himself above politics and is only interested in engaging with the confused and the obsequious. This will only encourage BADACA supporters and local unions to do all in our power to defeat these vicious cuts!

http://www.bristolanticutsalliance.org.uk/2013/01/24/questioning-fergusons-cuts/

Autumn Budget: CUTS DON'T WORK

From: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/articles/15788/05-12-2012/cuts-dont-work
Chancellor Osborne has had to admit the humiliating truth - his policies to revive the British economy aren't working.

But his solution is to carry on with more of the same - make the working class pay more and do nothing about his tax-dodging, multimillionaire friends.

Councils across the country are cutting jobs and services. Now Osborne's autumn statement is rubbing salt into those wounds.

It carries measures which will hit the poor and the most vulnerable the hardest. In fact everybody except the super-rich is facing rising bills and falling wages, as well as job insecurity and a bleak future.

We're definitely not 'all in this together'.

Big tax-avoiding companies like Starbucks, Amazon and Google are embarrassed that their antics have been exposed.

It's not good PR. But they know that the chancellor will generally leave them alone, along with his rich chums.

After all it was Osborne who cut £3 billion from the tax office HMRC's budget in October 2010. This included axing 10,000 jobs.

When you look at this alongside the scandal of MPs still with their snouts buried in the expenses trough, it's no wonder that workers are fighting back.

The call for co-ordinated action against the cuts, low pay and the Con-Dem's austerity agenda in general is gaining support.

For example Unison's Scottish council has voted unanimously to instruct the union to "immediately take the necessary steps to promote with all STUC affiliated unions the need for a coordinated industrial action strategy, beginning with a one-day strike across Scotland."

Brian Smith, Glasgow city branch secretary and a member of Socialist Party Scotland explained that the trade unions "must step-up our campaign to defend wages, jobs, pensions and services by organising coordinated strike action across all sectors of the economy.

"At a time when Unison members are facing yet more pay cuts, further attacks on pensions and tens of thousands of jobs losses its clear the Con-Dem government will not stop unless they are forced back. A 24-hour general strike must be organised urgently to stop these attacks."

Failing coalition can be beaten:

Lobby the TUC on 11 December

The National Shop Stewards Network has organised a lobby of the TUC on 11 December to call on the TUC to name the date for a 24-hour general strike. 

To support this demand, see

www.shopstewards.net and get a copy of the model resolution.