The Socialist 18 August 2010

Action now to defeat cuts!

Action now to defeat cuts!

Pakistan: Workers' solidarity urgently needed

Floods in Pakistan bring devastation - poor suffer most

Youth must fight for a future!

Student demo should be start of the fightback

No to advice service cuts

Decent pay for interns

Uni bosses say cuts will cause closures

Forecasts of fragile economic growth

Cameron sticks the boot into our council housing

Private-profit company granted 'snoopers' charter'

Private Finance Initiative: A licence to print money

Coventry Against the Cuts challenge councillors' 'legal obligation'

Northern Ireland: Belfast Stop the Cuts Alliance established

Bromley care workers fight privatisation and job cuts

Defend Our Community Services launched in Bracknell

Cuts devastate mental health services

The legacy of Leon Trotsky

Kirklees Unison strike ballot launched

CWU members accept BT pay deal

Debate how to fight back at Socialism 2010

Tube staff vote for action against cuts

Jobs under threat at Ministry of Justice

Airport workers win improved offer from BAA

Workplace news in brief

Socialist Party summer camp - book now!

Russia's raging wildfires - a crisis of government policies

Bradford must organise against the EDL

Birmingham: Community says 'No' to racist spy cameras

Previous issues, etc

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Kirklees Unison strike ballot launched

Kirklees Unison has launched a formal industrial action ballot, to begin strike action in September to challenge the council's headlong rush into some of the most swingeing cuts in living memory.

Huddersfield Socialist Party members

Last year, the council promised to cut £250-£400 million from the budget, with 2,000 job losses. It has tried to lure workers from their jobs with offers of redundancy and early retirement, but so far only a few hundred workers have taken up the 'offer'. Now the council, with a minority Labour leadership, it is setting out to tear up just about every local agreement in the book. So far it has:

Drawn up a hit-list of all temporary and casual staff to be targeted for redundancy.
Issued a notice of compulsory redundancy for 150 unnamed staff.
Planned to axe half of all admin staff, about 350 workers.
Listed workers aged 64 plus who will be forced to leave work on their 65th birthday.
Reduced the redundancy pay for all those who leave.
Unsuccessfully tried to reduce the pension entitlement for all those who leave.
Introduced a new formula for calculating sickness absence which will be used to get rid of those who have 'too much' time off sick.

The local Unison branch is organising workplace meetings across the borough to encourage a big 'yes' vote and a big turnout. Inevitably there are questions about the chances of pushing the council back and whether members can afford to strike. However there is a growing realisation that we have no choice.

The union is also organising weekly campaigning stalls to rally the public behind the action and has called a demonstration on 11 September in Huddersfield as a focal point.