Leicester City Council Event on 19 January 2011

The event was a great success with a lunchtime rally of mainly Leicester City Council workers but PCS also well represented as well as Youth Fight for Jobs and Leicestershire Against the Cuts (LAC) amongst others.

Tony Church spoke on behalf of LAC to an appreciative crowd.

It's a shame the branch does not have a banner to make our presence more visible, but the BEC are working on this.

The councils are cutting heavily and early but the civil service will not be far behind.

This really is the same fight and the Labour Movement needs to be united.

PCS is again leading the way with talks now ongoing to co-ordinate action on pensions and other issues (see the post below)

PCS to discuss action against the cuts with other unions

There is beginning to be a change in mood with people understanding what the cuts personally mean to them, their family and friends. This is the time to take advantage of that change.

The next stages of the campaign have been laid out in a bulletin issued to PCS branches today.

PCS is to follow up the massive votes by members to campaign against government cuts by meeting with other unions to discuss joint action.

PCS members voted by more than 90 percent in two ballots to oppose changes to civil service redundancy terms and to continue fighting against cuts to jobs, pensions, pay and public services.

Interested general secretaries will be talking to each other on Friday 28 January.

The 28 January meeting will also feature leaders of the National Union of Teachers and the University and College Union who have been talking about co-ordinated action over pensions.

A special meeting of the PCS national executive - after the talks with other unions –will consider the possibility of ballot for industrial action.

The ongoing campaign will include support for student demonstrations against tuition fee rises, the axing of the education maintenance allowance, and cuts to youth services – to be held in Manchester and London on Saturday 29 September.

PCS is also continuing to argue for as many members as possible to bring friends and family to attend the ‘March for the alternative’ in London on Saturday 26 March.

Leicester City Council union members and PCS have great opportunity to act in solidarity

On Wednesday 19th January 2011 the joint trade union side side at Leicester City Council are organising a rally in the Town Hall Square at 12:30 to protest at the budget cuts being proposed by the authority.

The cuts may be leaked before this and a spontaneous protest may occur, but the trade unions are looking for support on the 19th and we hope our members will attend the lunch time rally to make it one of the biggest Leicester has ever seen. Put the date in your diary now.

More details will follow in the New Year.

Leicestershire Against the Cuts event on 24th November.

We want as many PCS members as possible in Leicester to attend a protest on 24th November at the Clock Tower 12:00 midday.'Flex-off' to participate. Students and union members united against the cuts. Ask you rep for details.

Leicestershire Against the Cuts

There is an Organising Meeting of the campaign this Saturday (13 November) at the Secular Hall in Humberstone Gate East, Leicester from 15:00 to 17:00. All branch members are welcome to attend to discuss the next steps.

Coverage of Leicester march and rally on October 30th.

There's some excellent coverage on our Facebook site 'Leicestershire Against the Cuts' of yesterday's march and rally in Leicester, which was sponsored by PCS, Unison, National Union of Teachers and the Leicester and District Trades Union Council. I know its been said many times before but Leicestershire Against the Cuts was the initiative of this branch, so you should all be very proud of how the local movement against the cuts is building.

Please do not try to access the Facebook site with DWP IT.

LATEST NEWS FROM OUR NEC ON THE CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE CUTS

At its special meeting on 26 October, the NEC agreed, given the speed with which the Government’s cuts will impact and the success of the 23 October marches and protests, that a national demonstration should be held this year in late November or early December, in addition to the demo next March. We will be discussing this with other unions and will propose at the TUC Public Sector Liaison Group meeting on 8 November that the TUC call such a demonstration.