Greenwich March against the cuts

Sorry this has taken so long (nearly three months in fact!) fighting the cuts is busy work and i just haven't had time to give this blog the attention it deserves. Any way report of the Demo in February follows.

On Saturday 12 February around 200 trade unionists, community campaigners and service users marched in Greenwich borough, south London, against the local council's brutal cuts package.

Paul Callanan, Greenwich Save Our Services

The march was called by Greenwich Save Our Services which was initiated by Socialist Party members. Banners and flags from local branches of Unite, PCS, NUT, NSSN, the Pensioners' Forum and Keep Our NHS Public were all present. The march grew as it went through Woolwich's busy high street.

Greenwich council has unveiled a cuts package that will 'save' £90 million over the next four years.The first wave, which will slash £30 million in one year, includes cuts to carer's allowances, parks and open spaces including the closure of a popular animal park in Charlton, the closure of advice centres for teenage mothers, and a 40% voluntary sector cut.

The Labour council has also handed out redundancy notices to all its workers. Workers are told to accept new contracts on worse terms and conditions or face losing their jobs.

At the rally, Mick Callanan, a Unite grounds maintenance steward and Socialist Party member, pointed to the student protests at the end of last year and said that "they showed the way in the fight against the cuts and now we should be good parents and join them". Onay Kasab, Unite 1563 branch chair, said that the march needed to be the "start of the movement in Greenwich against the cuts".

MARCH TO SAVE OUR SERVICES!

12TH FEBRUARY 2011
ASSEMBLE 11.30 OUTSIDE RIVERSIDE HOUSE, CRETON STREET (OFF POWIS STREET), WOOLWICH, LONDON SE18
MARCH WILL BEGIN AT 12 NOON
UNITE NOW TO SAVE OUR SERVICES! MARCH AND DEMONSTRATE AGAINST THE CUTS!
WHY SHOULD THE BANKERS GET BONUSES WHILE WE GET CUTS?
JOIN THE DEMONSTATION TO DEMAND NO CUTS!
CALLED/SUPPORTED BY GREENWICH SAVE OUR SERVICES, GREENWICH UNITE AND GREENWICH AND BEXLEY TRADE COUNCIL

We now face the most brutal cuts to our services in decades. But we don’t have to accept them. Greenwich Council wants to cut services by over £67 million. Why should we pay for an economic mess that is not our fault? Why should those who can least afford it take the blame?

Greenwich Council is preparing to cut our services. In total, we are facing over £65 million of cuts. The first £27 million has been identified. This first stage alone includes 240 job losses in areas including Older Peoples Services, Childrens Services and Services for the disabled. But this is more than just about job losses, bad as these are. Services to the public will suffer drastically. Waiting times will dramatically increase for services such as Occupational Therapy, responsible for providing adaptations to allow disabled people to live at home rather than go into care.
No area is safe. There will be cuts to posts in Day Centres and Care staff working with the elderly. The Play and Youth Service will disappear. The Council says it will look to other providers. The truth is that they are just passing on the responsibility for making the cuts. Mother and toddler groups will also go.
Charges will rise for Council services including Homecare, Day Centres, Allotments, Parking and Removal of trade waste from small businesses.
Just as importantly the wonderful animal park at Maryon Wilson could go. It will also become expensive for local families to use the Boating Centre at Southmere. These are just as important as the other cuts quite simply because they allow families affordable leisure. This is why we are also fighting proposals to transfer libraries to a “Trust” or to have them run by volunteers. Again, the Council will only transfer the responsibility for making the cuts. This is because library closures are politically unpopular. The Council has already tried to close libraries, including the mobile library service. This was only prevented when unions publicly exposed the plans.
This is all happening in a borough where residents on the Ferrier Estate have been issued with eviction notices as part of the Councils redevelopment of the area.
We now need to unite across the borough and say no to all these attacks.
JOIN THE MARCH
DEMONSTRATE AGAINST THE CUTS
STAND UP FOR YOUR SERVICES AND YOUR COMMUNITY!