News / Politics
Unions to demonstrate against council cuts
Protesters are planning to gather outside City Hall on Tuesday to demonstrate over 1,000 job cuts at the council.
Mayor Marvin Rees announced he would be cutting staff in a bid to save £29 million to balance the books.
Unite the union says government-imposed cuts up to 2020 amount to more than £100 million. The protest is being organised by the People’s Assembly and will begin at 5pm, before the meeting of full council.
is needed now More than ever
Unite regional officer Stuart Davies said: “We urge local people to turn up to tomorrow’s protest so that councillors recognise the strength of feeling against these ideologically-driven cuts dictated by a Tory government that are impossible to achieve without hollowing-out vital council services that people rely on 24/7.
“We are entering dangerous uncharted territory for the future of local government services in Bristol – and also across the country as other local authorities grapple with similar financial nightmares.”
The union is calling on the mayor to make representations to Whitehall on the state of local government finance and the impact on Bristol’s 450,000 population of the cuts.
Green Party leader Charlie Bolton, writing on Bristol24/7, said the mayor needed to show leadership by objecting to the government’s austerity policies.
Bristol People’s Assembly said if the new cuts go ahead, the council’s workforce will have shrunk by over 40 per cent in five years.
A statement submitted to full council added: “Given their magnitude, these cuts would impact significantly upon essential services with larger budgets, such as care and support for vulnerable adults, children, families and communities, which are already under massive strain – with ‘simply not enough staff’ and ‘people left unsupported’ – according to social workers.
“These cuts – along with those planned up to 2020 – will also threaten Bristol’s ability to provide for statutory minimums, as the council has acknowledged.
“We call upon the mayor and council to act now to challenge central government over these cuts, demand the proper funding our city needs and meet with Whitehall ministers in coming weeks. We intend to mobilise widely alongside any such endeavours to put a stop to these cuts, and larger ones pending for coming years.”
Read more: ‘Rees needs to show leadership over cuts’
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