On 15 March, Hackney council workers protested both in solidarity with the masses of public sector workers on strike, and also, importantly, against redundancies in the council.
Unison members registered their disgust that six library workers, including Hackney Unison branch chair Brian Debus, are due to be made compulsory redundant. This despite the fact that there are more than enough posts available in the restructured library service.
Brian, a Socialist Party member, has been leading the campaign of the library workforce against devastating cuts to jobs and the service. He has been a thorn in the side of the cutting Labour council for decades as a Unison activist, campaigning in defence not just of libraries, where he has worked for years, but alongside street cleansing, refuse, parks, Housing With Care, and many other groups of staff. This is clearly a case of victimisation, intended to weaken the fightback tradition of Hackney Unison, with Brian playing a key role in its leadership for over 20 years.
