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From The Socialist newspaper, 3 January 2018
Fire service staffing victory
Socialist Party members campaigning alongside the FBU, photo by Harrogate Socialist Party (Click to enlarge)
At the North Yorkshire Fire Authority meeting on 13 December, the decision was taken unanimously to reverse the decision made three years ago to reduce crewing of 'tactical response vehicles' (TRVs) to just three firefighters. These vehicles will now return to a minimum crew of four.
This is a victory for all those who have been campaigning over this issue for the last two and a half years. Socialist Party members across North Yorkshire played a crucial part in building public opposition to these proposals when they were first announced, particularly in Harrogate where we held stalls alongside local Fire Brigades Union (FBU) activists.
This decision, however, doesn't fully reverse the cuts, as the TRVs themselves were newly introduced in 2015, replacing large, more fully equipped fire engines, as well as following from a reduction of 50 firefighter posts lost between 2010 and 2015.
Nevertheless, FBU members and others involved in the campaign will be celebrating a setback for the austerity agenda in this largely Tory-dominated county.
Iain Dalton, North Yorkshrie Socialist Party organiser
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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
Inevitably, during the crisis we have not been able to sell the Socialist and raise funds in the ways we normally would.
We therefore urgently appeal to all our viewers to donate to our Fighting Fund.
In The Socialist 3 January 2018:
New Year statement
Socialist Party comments and reviews
Tory prescription for mental illness: stress and bureaucracy
Socialist Party news and analysis
Widening wealth gap, increase in poverty...make the fat cats pay
Mobilise against rip-off executive pay
Rail: fares up, bosses' pay up - delays and cancellations up
Thousands live in tents and sheds - seize empty homes
Heart unit rescued by campaigning saves baby with pioneering surgery
NHS in winter crisis as Branson creams off £1bn
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Blairite council 'all ears' to rich property developers
Stop the rotten redevelopment plan, demand residents
Housing victory for Sussex students
Leeds: temporary reprieve for playing fields
Bradford protest against children's service cuts
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition conference
Socialist Party workplace news
Equal sick pay rights for staff at Charlton Park Academy
Newham: school strike solid against academy
International socialist news and analysis
Catalan elections: PP humiliated
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