The Socialist 25 January 2012

Hard times - but not for the 1%

Hard Times - but not for the 1%

The trade unions and Labour

Add your name to the TUSC petition

Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition election conference

Public sector pensions: 'Coalition of the willing' gathering strength

Financial vultures kill Peacocks

Con-Demned to unemployment

Fight the Tories' Welfare Reform Bill

Victory against Dorries' abstinence education bill

Keep the racist EDL out of Leicester

Them & Us

Haringey parents say: No to academies!

NUS calls national student walkout

Balfour Beatty re-ballot: Vote to strike again

Sweetheart stitch-ups in the electrical industry: A spark's history of the Joint Industry Board

Exposed - the dirty world of the construction blacklist

Egypt - A year of revolution and counter-revolution

Stepping up the action to defend pensions at Unilever

Defend Len Hockey: Outrageous attack on Whipps Cross hospital workers

Pontefract hospital: Army withdrawn - now kick out PFI!

Save Vine services

Llanelli: Save Prince Philip's A&E

Stop the Salford day centre closures

Kirklees parents say 'save our children's centres!'

Greenwich Unite members oppose cuts, privatisation and racism

Workplace news in brief

PDFs for this issue




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Save Vine services

Vine in Leeds provides specialist education provision for young adults with severe and complex learning difficulties. Many of the staff are female Unison members working part-time as Learning Support Assistants (LSAs). But since the beginning of the economic downturn in 2008 they have seen the service contract and deteriorate.

The students' funding is provided by Leeds City colleges via the Young Peoples' Learning Agency but there is a question mark as to how many students will be funded this way and how much will be provided by our own employer to keep our members in jobs. Overall it is predicted that Leeds City council is to cut another £55 million from its 2012-13 budget. That may mean up to 600 jobs will go!

Our members at Vine have lost out in the re-evaluation of our jobs as it failed to account for the 'Special Needs Allowance' for the personal care we provide to the students. Although we qualified for the three-year pay protection that ran out in February 2011, and with no decent national pay increase in years, our members have really felt the pinch.

We say enough is enough. No more cuts. Fair pay now.