“I want our £1.3 Trillion we gave to the banks back…now!”

£1.3 Trillion (1,300,000,000,000,000) public money given to the banks.

£153 Billion (153,000,000,000) the Public Sector deficit that is driving the Con-Dem Governments Cuts Agenda

If I didn’t know better I sometimes feel politicians almost relish the massive cuts packages they have been promoting for almost a year! Now is not the time to panic. Scaring citizens that we could be worse than Greece is just the act of a bully hoping that when they announce the cuts we will all roll over and accept anything they propose.

We must not roll over.  Public Sector workers are not Mugs

As public sector workers we cannot let the Government politicians treat us as mugs. When I return from UNISON Conference I hope to report that our newly elected General Secretary will have a plan for how we are going to defend public services and jobs.  We have no alternative but to resist all talk of cuts. We have to involve ALL our members.  I don’t know if it is just me but I am getting increasingly irritated by politicians talking about cuts in the public sector. What annoys me the most is how they talk about cuts to jobs and job creation in the same sentence!  Just how does making 300,000 jobs redundant create jobs?

Locally we have three key issues:

Budget Cuts as a result of £6.3 Billion announced in the Queens Speech

Future Shape projects

Emergency Budget 22 June and the massive cuts which will follow.

Look out for news of our Emergency Branch Meeting 1 July meeting on the Cuts over the page.

Best wishes

John Burgess (Branch Secretary)