What happens when workers stand together and fight back – Lambeth

“Lambeth UNISON wins their first victory against the cuts but “the fight is not over”

Lambeth UNISON won an important early victory in their anti-cuts campaign. CYPS Convenor Andy Tullis informed members of the victory soon after the announcement and explained the lessons all union members can learn from the One O’clock club campaign:

“Under the huge pressure that we have exerted through all our campaigning work in the last month Lambeth Council (stunned by the public outcry) have withdrawn their proposals for One O’clock Clubs and agreed to assimilate all staff in Adventure Playgrounds. This is a marvellous step forward for our campaign and shows what we can achieve if we stick together and unite with the community to fight the cuts.  Full credit must go to the One O’clock Club and Adventure Playground staff who have played a magnificent role in getting themselves organised and gaining public support.  This shows that if we organise win can win.”

The One O’Clock clubs have almost total union density and quickly organised themselves to fight cuts alongside parents who use their service.

UNISON stewards in the clubs were delighted by the news and commented:

“We feel we’ve won the first battle! It was the first victory because of the nature of what they were trying to do — these cuts were not budget-led. In fact the new set up would have cost more. The council had been planning this attack for some time, and after the election they jumped on the Lib-Con government’s bandwagon. The council’s arguments were totally implausible. They claimed they were replacing unqualified people with better qualified staff… In that case, why not use the existing procedures? Management just ended up looking stupid. It was clear they wanted to attack the union and attack the service we run.”

But nobody in the Lambeth branch is ready to sit back and enjoy their victory, the fight goes on and they have vowed to fight for every job and every service.