Coventry council – stop job cuts

“WE’RE NOT the back-room, we’re the back-bone,” was one council worker’s comment on Coventry council’s proposed redundancies, where the New Labour council is making £101 million cuts over three years.

Rob Windsor, former Socialist Party councillor, Coventry

Even before the general election, the two socialist councillors’ votes were the only ones to oppose the then Tory council’s £72 million cuts. Now, despite New Labour councillors hypocritically whingeing about the bad Tories, the only councillor to oppose cuts and job losses has been the remaining socialist councillor Dave Nellist.

All services are affected, but areas who fought back have gained some concessions.

The council wants 1,000 voluntary redundancies, with a pay-off of around £8,000. And for those workers left, there will be £15 million of pay cuts over the next three years.

The entire council workforce faces two choices. Either get involved in the fight against redundancy and unsubtle shoves towards the door – or face obliteration at the hands of a Tory government and a Labour council.

Socialist councillor Dave Nellist has called for no cuts and the council to use a combination of borrowing and use of reserves to “buy time” whilst building a mass campaign to stop cuts in government grant. This would involve meetings in every community and workplace, linked with other areas, to kick-start effective opposition aimed at the Tory-Fib Dem coalition.


Only Socialist Party cllr. opposes Coventry cuts

Coventry council’s briefing note to its Cabinet on the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS), the cuts package that makes huge numbers of staff redundant and slashes services over the next three to four years, said: “…with the exception of councillor Nellist, the Board supported the MTFS and did not wish to put forward any [amendments] for consideration.”

The Socialist Party should be proud to be ‘the exception’ when all other parties, including the Labour council, are proposing and implementing cuts!

Unison steward, Coventry