cuts – 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

Unite pressure gets reprieve for fixed term library workers

Towards the end of September the City of Edinburgh Council was working on issuing 1 week’s notice of termination of contract to 39 library workers on fixed term contracts as a means of reducing costs whilst taking forward the plan to re-open some libraries early October.

Unite CEC branch found out about these proposals with only a few days to go before notices were to be issued. Calling it “an absolute disgrace” branch officials determined that, whilst legal, it would be “an outrage against common decency” were these workers (many of whom had been in the council and Unite several years) to lose their jobs and set to work.

After a flurry of emails, texts, phone calls, lobbying and speedily arranged zoom meetings the council was content to delay termination until January.

This is a temporary reprieve and those affected should contact a rep immediately.

Sign the petition calling for proper Council funding

The Scottish Government has cut funding to Scottish councils year on year for the past decade. Edinburgh has endured £250m of budget cuts in the last five years. In 2019/20, it will face £41 million of cuts, with a predicted £106 million of cuts in the following three years. Jobs and services have been lost and continue to be cut.

The Westminster Government have cut the funding to the Scottish budget by 1.65% since 2013, but the funding the Scottish government gives to Scottish councils has fallen by 6.92% since 2013. This means that Scottish councils have taken the brunt of austerity cuts in the Scottish public sector.

We call on the Scottish Government and all opposition parties to

look urgently at the damaging impact of spending reductions
work together to increase funding to Councils.

Sign the petition