Back in 2010, the Spending Review announced that funding for local authorities, fire and police services would be cut by more than a quarter by April 2015. The same day, Eric Pickles wrote to local authority leaders, promising them Local finance reform…Read more…
Attack on rural communities
Rural communities across Northern Ireland are under grave risk to their safety after Unite has discovered plans to severely cut road maintenance services. Unite representatives were informed that Transport NI management have proposed reducing the inspection of rural roads for potholes from three times a year to only once a year. Management has also […]
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Why TTIP is bad for workers
#NoTTIP The recent War on Want Manchester conference – ‘TTIP: Building the Fightback’ – included a presentation by Jeronim Capaldo of TUFTS University in the USA. Capaldo’s study, ‘The Trans-Atlantic…Read more…
Where will the axe fall?
The Tories are refusing to set out how they are going to cut £12 billion from the welfare budget. But documents leaked to the BBC show they are looking to hit carers, children and the disabled in the next round of cuts. Labour urged the Tories to ‘come clean’ about where the axe will […]
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Striking for a fair deal
As UNITElive reported today, most of us expect our pay to stay the same this year or rise ever-so-slightly. Drivers who transport disabled children to school for Hackney council, however, face something else entirely – an astounding 50 per cent slash in their wages as the local authority embarks on vicious cost-cutting measures. […]
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Public services – more austerity carnage ahead
#Budget2015 The cuts to public services projected in yesterday’s Budget speech by Tory Chancellor George Osborne are unprecedented and a timely TUC analysis confirms that ‘departmental spending is…Read more…
But what benefits are they planning to cut?
In his Budget Speech George Osborne repeated that he intends, if re-elected, to cut £12 billion in benefits (plans first announced in January of last year), but you’ll search the Budget documents in vain for any indication of just how he plans to go about this. These cuts have to be implemented,…Read more…
‘A masterpiece of solidarity’
Attempts by the management of the Dulwich Picture Gallery to water down the visitor experience by axing 19 of the 36 gallery assistants have been brushed away. Unite said that attempts to get rid of the knowledgeable assistants at the world’s first purpose-built public art gallery and replacing them with apprentices on training […]
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Aberdeenshire cuts impact ‘devastating’ says UNISON
Aberdeenshire UNISON has warned that the council’s planned cuts over the next five years will hit jobs and services hard and will continue to have a devastating impact on the quality of life in Aberdeenshire, especially for our most vulnerable.
The branch has called on Aberdeenshire councillors to minimise job losses and to keep their commitment to no compulsory redundancies and to maintainRead more…
It’s Not Just About Books: The Golden Thread of Libraries. National Libraries Day Saturday 7th February.
That libraries are not just about loaning books is a fact clearly recognised in the recent Independent Library Report for England, undertaken on behalf of the Department of Culture, Media and…Read more…
MP’s confirm poorest areas are worst hit by cuts
Councils in the most deprived areas of England have been hardest hit by cuts to their funding, Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee has said. Austerity cuts have not been applied equally since…Read more…
£1billion a year essential for new flood defences
£1billion a year must be spent on flood defences over the next decade to cope with the rising threat of flooding, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI) and campaigners like Friends of the Earth. In a new initiative, they argue for an end to building new homes in flood-risk areas,…Read more…
Growing funding crisis in local government threatens public services
A growing funding crisis in local government is threatening the future of local public services in England. According to new analysis published today in Austerity Uncovered significant cuts have already been made to statutory adult social care and children’s services – with more cuts to come….Read more…
Workers in Queensferry and East Kilbride face uncertain Christmas
IBM workers who deliver ScottishPower’s outsourced £20m IT services, face an uncertain Christmas after being told that they face further restructuring. Staff are worried that this may mean further job losses.
IT staff maintain customer services systems and infrastructure which engineers rely on when tackling power cuts.
Staff say more restructuring will further disrupt customer serviceRead more…
UNISON lambasts council ‘bully-boy’ tactics as councillors threaten closure of mental health charity
UNISON has issued an urgent call to councillors to cease plans to cut a charity’s funding by 40 per cent without any prior consultation.
Councillors are expected to make their decision at a council meeting today (Thursday) based on a report that remains unseen by Glasgow Association for Mental Health.
The charity was notified late Tuesday evening that commissioners want to hold an urgentRead more…
A welfare state for corporations not the people
An extensive article and research by Kevin Farnsworth on the Renewal website examines the extent to which UK public policy is skewed in favour of private companies – placing business tax cuts,…Read more…
Work allowances – the nasty little cut in the #AutumnStatement
This afternoon the Chancellor told us that one of his “steps to control benefit spending” will be “freezing Universal Credit work allowances for a further year”. The work allowance is one of the key elements of Universal Credit – it is the amount of earnings you’re allowed before your Universal…Read more…
Britain needs a pay rise, but this #AutumnStatement won’t give us one
Listening to today’s Autumn Statement, it’s clear the living standards crisis has wrecked the Chancellor’s strategy. He has failed his deficit reduction pledge as low-paid Britain is paying much less tax than expected – £17bn less in fact. And businesses won’t be able to find the…Read more…
UNISON condemns chief constable statement that it is ‘inevitable that more police staff face further jobs cuts next year’
Wed 26 Nov 2014
UNISON, the trade union for police civilian staff, has condemned the statement by the Chief Constable of Police Scotland that more police staff will be made redundant.
George McIrvine, secretary of UNISON police staff Scotland branch said:"This shows UNISON is right. Civilian police staff are facing big job losses and are the victims of the Scottish Governments policy toRead more…
Under pressure – UNISON survey shows Scotland’s occupational therapists struggling to maintain service
Tue 11 Nov 2014
A report out today (Tuesday 11 Nov 2014) by UNISON shows that Scotland’s occupational therapists are struggling to maintain the level of service their patients need in light of budget cuts and staffing shortages.
Those surveyed in the report – Under Pressure: Scotland’s occupational therapists speak out – said they had huge concerns about the impact cuts are having on theRead more…