Trade unionists, community campaigners and young people from all over South Wales will descend upon Pontypridd on 19 January for a demonstration called by Unison. We will be protesting against cuts to public services and jobs in Wales, specifically those being made at Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) council, a Labour run authority.
Jamie Davis, Vale of Glamorgan Unison, personal capacity
Following on from a similar move at Labour controlled Neath Port Talbot council last year, the workforce were told their contracts were to be terminated, and that they would be given the option of signing new contracts with worsened terms and conditions.
After the joint trade unions formally registered a dispute, the council announced they were not prepared to participate in mediation with the joint secretaries of the Welsh Local Government Association and the trade unions.
The Unison and GMB branches have subsequently initiated a ballot for industrial action.
At a question and answer session for Labour Party members last weekend, Ed Miliband’s advice to council workers in RCT was: “Blame the Tory government” – little comfort when trying to pay the bills.
Labour councils willing to wield the axe of Con-Dem cuts against their workers and community must be made to understand that they will face the full might of not just the trade union movement, but all those whose lives will be devastated by the programme of destruction that they allow to happen.
