budget – Unite CEC Branch

Stop the cuts—demo on 23 February at the City Chambers

Join us on Thursday from 8:30am to protest the Council Budget

On Thursday, the Council will meet to approve its budget for 2023/24. The proposals look set to make around £18m worth of cuts, including axing Education Welfare Officers and Speech Language Therapists and forcing citizens to use online channels as part of a ‘digital by default’ approach.

Furthermore, the budget only accounts for a 3% pay rise for council workers, at a time where inflation stands at 13.4% with food prices having increased by 17% in the past year and mortgage rates and rent skyrocketing.

Read the budget papers

Call to all members—rally Parliament on 8 December for the Scottish Government budget!

The fight for fair pay—all members to Scottish Parliament at 11am on Thursday 8 December

On 15 December, the Scottish Government will announce their budget for the year. This is important for all local government workers, as it will indicate what cuts may be ahead and how the government will value its local government—and other public sector—workers.

We are now in a recession. It is forecast to be the longest and with the hardest impact on living standards since records began, so we expect this budget to outline cuts. The public sector has already been cut to ribbons by the decade-long package of austerity following the 2008 recession. There is simply nothing left to cut without huge impacts on our communities and vulnerable people. We must oppose all cuts every step of the way.

This starts with rallying at the Scottish Parliament the week before the budget.

Rally on 8 December at 11am

The STUC (Scottish Trade Unions Congress) has organised a mass lobby outside the Scottish Parliament on 8 December from 11am to 1pm.

Budget Day demo—united in our call to invest in Council workers and jobs

On Thursday, we braved the chill and snow to demonstrate outside the City Chambers in solidarity with fellow trade unionists, activists and concerned citizens as the Council met to approve next year’s budget.

Read the budget papers and watch a webcast of the budget meeting, which includes the full deputations summarised below.

The Council have delivered a balanced budget for 2022/23, thanks to an underspend in 2021/22 and a 3% Council Tax rise, however the forecast for the years following looks bleak, with a gap in 2023/24 of around £55m with this gap increasing around £25m each year thereafter. The Council have said there must be a ‘robust savings plan’—which we know by now, translates to more cuts.

The demonstrators sought to raise awareness of the impact of cuts and call for measures to tackle the crises we face today that will be worsened by further cuts and by failing to change how the Council delivers services. We need a shake up and we need it now.

Join the budget day protest this Thursday 24 February

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.

See demo details on Facebook.

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

Cost of Living Crisis Demo: report

Dozens of Unite members joined around 150 protestors at the protest organised by Another Edinburgh is Possible on 12th February 2022 in front of the UK Government Buildings at Sibbald Walk, just beside our Council Headquarters at Waverley Court.

Speakers included politicians, community activists and trade unionists. Our Unite CEC branch secretary made a promise to the governor of the Bank of England “if you reduce the cost of living I will ask our members to consider reducing their pay demands,” after highlighting the low pay (and short hours) of some 150,000 Local Government Workers across Scotland (some 10,000 in our city) and the disastrous effect of National Insurance increases, energy hikes, fuel, clothing and food costs rising that would impoverish workers and make our council cut even more jobs and services.

Budget rally on 8 December—fund local government!

On Wednesday 8th December we will join the STUC Budget Rally as part of our campaign for investment in public services and public sector pay. Plans for the Scottish Budget will be announced the following day in the Scottish Parliament. It is critical this budget delivers for all public sector workers, especially in historically underfunded sectors including local government.

The rally will increase the pressure on Scottish Government and call for all political parties to support increased funding for the public sector. We would encourage all affiliates to attend to show our determination to fight for key workers across the public sector who have carried Scotland through the Covid-19 pandemic and are now facing wage cuts, rising prices and job losses. All MSPs and local government Councillors will be invited to attend to support the rally.

STUC BUDGET RALLY
Key Workers, Key Services – the Key to Recovery
Wednesday 8th December 2021
Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh
Assemble 11:30
Rally with speakers 12:00

Council budget 2021: our deputation

Normally, we would give our deputation as part of the Council’s budget meeting—taking place today—but due to the temporary standing orders ruling that deputations can only be submitted in writing, we can’t do that this year. Read on for our full deputation, or watch the video for a summary.

Join us on Twitter for discussion of the budget at @unitececbranch.

Unite CEC Branch’s deputation to Full Council on 18 February 2021

Unite CEC Branch would like to preface this deputation with an objection to the temporary rules that dictate that deputations can only be submitted in writing. The Council has used technology to overcome many challenges this year and we believe digital participation in Council committees from groups submitting deputations is not insurmountable and that barring active participation is contrary to the principle of democracy that the voices of citizens and workers can be heard as part of these proceedings.