Campaign news

Public services, not private profits!

11th June 2014

Public services, not private profits!

UNISON Conference LRC Fringe Meeting

7-9pm, Wednesday 18th June
The Friends’ Meeting House, Ship Street, Brighton BN1 1AF

Refreshments available from 6.30pm

Download our poster/leaflet for this meeting : here

The Coalition is busy selling-off public assets and bringing in more and more private contractors to run NHS services in every local area. Meanwhile, local councils are putting more contracts out to private tender and all public sector workers have suffered pay freezes since the Coalition took office in 2010. The Coalition’s divisive 2014 NHS pay offer shows complete contempt for NHS staff while 90% of local government workers were offered only a derisory 1% pay increase for 2014. Given all of this, it’s no wonder that the morale of workers in the public sector and the NHS has plummeted.

It’s time for British people to join with public sector workers to fight cuts and privatisation, to save our NHS and to speak up for all public services. Say no to further cuts, outsourcing and privatisation of our public services and NHS. Labour must pledge not just to repeal the Coalition’s Health & Social Care Act but to remove the burden of PFI from our public services, to adequately fund public services, bring services back inhouse – where they can be run more efficiently, and abandon public sector pay caps.

Discuss why all public sector workers are worth a decent pay rise, learn about an alternative vision for our NHS, hear how we must protect public services like housing, and keep profit out of child protection with leading members of UNISON, the UK’s biggest public service union, plus Ian Lawrence who, as General Secretary of NAPO, is leading probation workers in their fight to defend the Probation Service against the Coalition’s reckless privatisation plans.

Speakers include:
Heather Wakefield - UNISON Head of Local Government, Police and Justice,
Gordon McKay of UNISON Scotland Health, UNISON NEC member
Jon Rogers (speaking in a personal capacity – Jon is a local government worker and Lambeth UNISON activist), and local housing worker
MarshaJane Thompson - Havering UNISON activist

Come along on Wednesday 18 June to support public sector workers and defend our public services. Because people are more important than profits.

Background

By Ian Hodson It’s great news that a mainstream political party has recognised the importance of taking positive action to raise pay. Since 2008, politicians from all parties along with many in the media, have pushed the narrative that society will somehow improve by imposing austerity and blaming minority groups for the state of the country’s finances. Sadly, many have fallen for this deception and the ‘look over there’ politics that has rose to prominence since the Conservatives returned to power in 2010. [continue...]

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Please see our Labour Briefing Website here: LabourBriefing.org [continue...]

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Across the country working people are losing their jobs and their homes. Meanwhile the bankers who plunged us into this crisis have been bailed out with billions of pounds of our money. It’s time to fight back. Their Crisis Not Ours! is the LRC’s campaign to bring together workers, pensioners, the unemployed, students, those facing repossession and all those suffering because of an economic crisis that has been imposed on us. The campaign is supporting the demands of the People’s Charter. [continue...]

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