The Council Leader Steve Houghton has said that the £40m savings the Council must make over the next four years may result in hundreds of jobs being cut.The Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) budget analysis suggests we are facing the “longest and deepest sustained cuts to spending on public services since at least WW2″. The CIPD said the budget could add 500,000 public service workers to the dole between now and 2015.
Barnsley UNISON was already aware that Barnsley Council faced a £30m shortfall in its budget forecasts over the next 3 years due to the costs associated with its commitment to replacing all its Secondary schools with new Advanced Learning Centres through the Building Schools for the Future programme.
Following the new Governments emergency budget, the situation can only get worse with cuts of up to 25% planned across the unprotected government departments.
What does this mean for us?
Without a doubt, jobs will be cut, we expect the Council Leader to call a special meeting with the trades unions as soon as they have a grasp on what the reductions might mean to services.
First Cuts Announced
The first of those cuts were announced last week with Highways & Engineering informing the unions that 25 to 32 posts will be at risk this year because of post budget funding cuts stopping planned work from going ahead. This will impact on operational, technical and managerial jobs.
Reaction in Barnsley
At very short notice around 50 public sector works and students from Barnsley College met on the Town Hall steps on Budget day and marched to the Transport Interchange for an impromptu rally. Speakers from the students, UNISON, the UCU, GMB, NUT and PCS all emphasised to need for co-operation and mutual support. Hijacking the Chancellor’s slogan that we’re all in it together the speakers pledged to work to make an attack on one public sector job in Barnsley an attack on all.
Ray Oldroyd, Barnsley Branch Secretary told BBC Radio Sheffield that "We really fear for the future of the town and our members and for the communities in the area. Cuts on this scale will mean devastation for a town like Barnsley".
Dave Prentis – UNISON General Secretary pledged that;
We will work with politicians, local communities, trade unions, and other organisations, to get public support to oppose these cuts that are set to cause deep and lasting damage to our public services and local economies.
What Can You Do
ORGANISE - the more members we have the stronger we will be when the time comes. The Branch has a Recruit a Friend incentive scheme in place with a prize draw worth up to £200 for both members who recruit a new member and those new members. Get an application form from your local UNISON steward or the Branch Office. Simply mark the form “Recruit a Friend” and add “Recruited by……..(name) to the form.
Check out the impact of the cuts across the public sector at