Cameron and Clegg’s cuts will destroy communities, Unite tells TUC
13 September 2010
The massive wave of cuts that the coalition is imposing on the
British people are unnecessary and will devastate communities
across the land, Unite, the largest union in the country, will tell
the TUC Congress today (Monday 13 September).
Gail Cartmail, Unite assistant general secretary for public
services, will tell delegates at the TUC in Manchester: ”The
Con-Dem’s emergency budget, and the looming Comprehensive Spending
Review represent an ideological attack against the collective
public services that generations before us fought so hard to
create.”
Speaking during the ‘defending public services’ debate, Gail
Cartmail said: “This is a disaster that will damage the lives of
our families, and the communities we live in.
”Though it is a crisis not of our making - it is business as
usual for the banks’ top bosses, while we are left to cope with
unfair and unnecessary cuts.”
Gail Cartmail said that more than one million public and private
sector jobs will be sacrificed, with women bearing the brunt.
”Two thirds of public sector workers are women. Freezes in pay
and detrimental changes to pensions will set women back decades and
widen the already unacceptable gender pay gap.”
She said that 72 per cent of the Con-Dem’s cuts will be from
women’s income.
The so-called ‘reforms’ to ‘liberate’ the NHS mean
privatisation, reducing England’s NHS to a marketing logo. The
so-called ‘efficiency savings’ are cuts by another name and are
causing real damage to patients and services.
Gail Cartmail said: ”Unite welcomes the TUC’s commitment to
stand ready and assist unions in co-ordinating industrial action in
this fight.
”We cannot do it alone – we need to build wide and popular
support, in alliance with community-based organisations, faith
groups and charities.
”We know that our economic plan – investment to create jobs to
reduce the deficit – is the correct stand to take. It is the
alternative to the ‘slash and burn’ cuts that will kill communities
and plunge us back to recession.“
Unite has 250,000 members working in the public sector in such
areas as the NHS, education, government departments, the prison
service and local government.
ENDS
For further information, please ring Gail Cartmail on 07768
931305 or Unite communications officer, Shaun Noble, on 07768
693940
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