DEFEND OUR PUBLIC SERVICES! Lobby Islington Council, 7pm, Thursday 7th October! NO CUTS, NO SACKINGS IN ISLINGTON! Lobby called by Islington GMB, NUT and UNISON and supported by Islington Hands Off Our Public Services (IHOOPS) For more information, telephone 07950 075088 To its credit, Islington’s newly elected Labour council has promised to resist the cuts in public services and welfare being imposed by George Osbourne and the ConDem government in order to make ordinary working people pay for a crisis caused by the greed of fat cat bankers and the unrestrained workings of the free market. So why has it now agreed to implement £3 million cuts this year with more to follow? These cuts include: Cutting funding for Southeby Mews Day centre, which provides a place to meet, social activities, a cup of tea and sometimes a hot meal for Islington’s pensioners, meaning that it will have to close. Decimating the borough’s schools Central Services department, with up to 51 teaching and support staff facing the sack. The services provided by these staff are not “back room” or inessential. They include providing for pregnant teenage girls as young as 13, supporting children who have been – or are about to be – excluded from school and supporting ethnic minority achievement and coordinating the Black Educators Network. These cuts, bad enough in themselves, are only the start. The answer given to one of a series of “frequently asked questions” sent to Central Services staff, “Is this the end of the cuts?” was “Unlikely”. Already, supporters of Southeby Mews Day Centre have launched a campaign to persuade Islington Council to drop plans to cut funding and workers in schools Central Services have resolved to fight to keep their jobs and the essential services they provide to the borough’s children. But they must not be allowed to battle alone. All of us who use public services in Islington – and especially all those of us who work to provide them as well – should rally to their defence. If the ConDems get away with sacking education department Central Services workers and closing down Southeby Mews Day Centre, who and what will be next? A good way to show our determination to defend our public services in Islington is to join the protest lobby of the next full meeting of Islington Council from 7 pm Thursday 7th October. Come along – and bring your friends and workmates. . |