Leeds picket line 8 July 2017 photo Iain Dalton, photo Iain Dalton

Leeds picket line 8 July 2017 photo Iain Dalton, photo Iain Dalton   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Kevin Pattison, Leeds Trade Union Council vice-president

Leeds Trade Union Council organised a successful anti-austerity conference on 24 November. It is part of our campaign to show the damage austerity is doing to local services, and to raise alternatives.

We started with reports from groups affected by austerity such as the successful Fearnville Fields campaign to save playing fields and Keep our NHS Public discussed the attacks on the NHS. Disability Empowerment Action Links reported on their successful struggle to keep funded transport for teenagers with disabilities and special educational needs.

And RMT transport union branch secretary John Stewart reported on 37 days of strike action to retain guards, or as he explained “the importance of a second safety-trained person on every train”.

The meeting then discussed council funding and alternatives to austerity.

We see this as the start of the discussion as we expect Leeds City Council draft budget to be produced in December which will include more cuts to services.

Leeds Trade Union Council will continue to organise campaigns to resist cuts which will damage working class communities.