Bleak New Year for council workers - GMB

Union leaders say council workers are facing a bleak New Year.

GMB’s latest list of jobs under threat show that 87,374 posts could go at 107 councils - including up to 350 at Rochdale Council.

The union says these are not town hall pen pushers but social workers, school dinner ladies, meals on wheels providers, refuse collectors, home helps and youth workers as a range of front line services are being decimated.

In nearly all the councils axing staff, a 90 day statutory consultation period is underway. Councils have given notice that they plan to delete vacant posts and seek volunteers for early retirements and redundancy.

Since the GMB’s last list on December 10, another 36 councils have announced job losses.

Brian Strutton, GMB National Secretary for Public Services, said: “The cuts are here and now as the tsunami of job losses in local authorities just keeps coming. We have 87,374 posts threatened so far at 107 councils. GMB officers are consulting members on what they want the union to do in this unprecedented situation.

“It is the most vulnerable in our community that will suffer. The axe is now falling indiscriminately on people who played no part in causing the deficit but are expected to lose their jobs to pay for it.

“The debt junkies in the banks, hedge funds and private equity houses who caused this recession have been bailed out using £850 billions of taxpayers’ funds while the government shamefully seeks to pass the blame onto overspending in the public sector.

“Statistics only tell part of the story. Every job lost is a personal tragedy and often a family left despairing for their future. What sort of a Christmas is it going to be for the council workers under notice of redundancy?

“The unfilled posts deleted means there are no other jobs to go to especially in those most deprived areas where councils are the main employer. It’s all too easy to excuse the cuts as necessary – but has anyone thought, seriously thought, about the terrible human cost?”