4,000 Brighton council workers to vote on strike action

Unison members at Brighton and Hove City Council are to be balloted for strike action.

The workers include teaching assistants, library workers, social care staff, residential workers, administration, managers, and cover all council services.

If members of the public sector union vote to strike, the industrial action would be likely to take place on September 29 – which has been earmarked by unions across Europe as a day of action against government cuts.

Unison said public spending cuts, the council’s decision to axe four of its most senior directors and replace them with officers from outside, and plans for job losses by April next year.

Alex Knutsen, UNISON Branch Secretary said: “My branch may be accused of going too far, too fast, but to wait until our services are destroyed will be too late.

“UNISON members in this City will take a stand now. For every redundancy that takes place, there will be a human story with it, for each service that closes a child could miss out on vital education, an older person will have nowhere to go for essential social contact, and the worst of all this, is it does not have to happen.

“The scale of these cuts is such that the effects will be felt across the whole community. The local economy will take a very significant turn-down with less money spent in the retail sector, leading in itself to further job losses.

“All right-thinking people need to act now to defend the imperfect, but at least reasonable standards of services we provide to the most vulnerable in our community.

“Mr Cameron promises a “big society” where citizens make the decisions – these cuts are being imposed on us.

“Unison challenges the prime minister to ask the people of this City what we want. I am absolutely confident that £50 million of cuts would be rejected by the people of Brighton and Hove.”