We’re calling on all Unite members to join us at a demonstration outside the City Chambers on Thursday 24 February at 9am, as the Council meets to approve the budget for the next year.
Over the past year Council staff have seen
- yet another pay cut, with a pay increase under the rate of inflation for many
- reductions in the value of take home pay in the face of huge increases to the cost of living
- increased workloads
- no effective measures to address workplace stress
- increased health and safety risks for those on the frontline
- continual reviews and looming threats of cuts and outsourcing
- their opinions ignored and discouraged, as services plough ahead with changes without consultation.
Edinburgh citizens have seen
- service cuts and restrictions
- increased rents and council tax
- care homes put at risk
- increasing problems with housing and homelessness
- their council cut to shreds by Scottish Government enforced budget cuts
This is the final budget of the current administration and there seem to be no major shocks (read the budget papers ), although council tax is set to increase again (3%) and cuts are still being made. Significantly though, the projections indicate that from 2023 onwards the council will be in increasingly desperate financial circumstances that will either make massive cuts inevitable or require a very significant injection of funds from either the Scottish Government (increased block grant) or Edinburgh citizens (increased council tax and charges).