Saturday 25 February 2012

£18 million Cuts in Southwark! – demonstrate 6 pm on Wed 29 February at Peckham Town Hall


Next Wednesday, 29 February, Southwark Council meet to vote through £18million-worth of cuts to council services and jobs. These cuts will hit the poorest and the most vulnerable in our community.

We are calling for a mass demonstration from 6 pm onwards to demonstrate our opposition, assembling outside Peckham Town Hall, Peckham Road SE5 8UB. See the poster and leaflet attached. See the Facebook Event for ‘Southwark F29 against the Cuts’, or join Twitter @southwarkSOS for updates.

Come yourself and bring everyone you can with you!

Can you help distribute leaflets? We can provide them. Ring John on 07519 811657 or email us at southwarksos@gmail.com.

Thursday 23 February 2012

SOUTHWARK COUNCIL SET TO CUT £18 million FROM VITAL SERVICES

Cuts will affect the most vulnerable. These are just some:

Nearly  £1m  to  be  cut  from  Early  Years  Education  and  Children‘s  Centres.  Loss  of  childcare   from  the  Bishop’s  House  and  South  Bermondsey  Children’s  Centres.  24  Nursery  Officers  &   6 domestic staff CUT.

Total cut of most of the 10 open access youth clubs (20% of Southwark population are under 15). 60% reduction in staffing.

50%  cut  to  ‘Connexions’  careers  service  which  helps  single  parents,  young  offenders  and   other young people find jobs. 20 people chase every job vacancy in Southwark.

Closure of either Fred Francis Day Centre or Southwark Park Day Centre - which look after older people with mental health conditions.

45% funding cut to Maroons - a centre which caters for BME mental health patients

Councillors – you should stand with the people, not the government.

The  Council  dress  cuts  up  as  ‘targeting’,  ‘restructuring’,  or  ‘redesigning’  services.  But  they  will   cut deep into services needed by the vulnerable. Cuts mean job losses, increased workloads, and  pay  cuts.  Councillors  claim  they  don’t  like  cuts  but  they  are  making  them  anyway.  It’s  like   being mugged for £100 and the thief throws back £10, expecting you to be thankful!

Bad – yes, and even worse to come

We saw how cuts last year slashed council jobs and increased workloads to impossible levels. This will continue unless we stop the cuts going through. Service users and council employees must stand side by side to stop the government cutting our precious services to shreds. George Osborne has promised another 3 YEARS of cuts after this. His agenda is clear:

Increase privatisation profit-hungry companies taking over health, education and environ- mental services.

Cuts in pay year-on-year, in public and private sectors - unless you are a leader of one of the UK’s  top  100  companies,  whose  pay  increased  by  47%  last  year.

Attacking pensions (work longer, pay more, die younger). The Government could wipe out the deficit by preventing £120 billion in tax avoidance by companies like Vodafone.

THERE IS A FIGHTBACK

Last week, 8 Labour councillors resigned rather than make cuts in Glasgow. Councillors should act on principles, not party allegiances condemning us to years of austerity.

Over 2 million trade unionists went on strike in November for decent pensions and against a government  of  millionaires  who  are  making  us  pay  for  a  crisis  we  didn’t  create.

Demonstrate LOUDLY this Wed 29 Feb, 6 pm at Peckham Town Hall. Tell everyone.
Get your trade union branch, campaign group, residents association, service-user group etc.
to  back  the  demonstration;  (see  Facebook  event  ‘Southwark  F29  against  the  Cuts’)

Support Southwark strikers


PCS members have picket lines in Southwark and at four other locations this morning as they strike against cuts to the Equality and Human Rights commission that will roll the clock back 40 years.
 
Please rush messages of support to savetheehrc@gmail.com - they make a real difference to morale
 
For more info see:

Wednesday 8 February 2012

Cuts – Local and national

CUTS TO COUNCIL SERVICES
We are receiving reports about cuts to local services, many of which will hurt the most vulnerable, and job losses that will add significantly to the numbers already out of work in Southwark. To stop this happening, we need a concerted campaign of action. Please let us know either by email or by coming to our meeting on 15th February (see below) what you can do to help stop these cuts.


PENSIONS DISPUTE - UPDATE
Unions which have refused to sign up to the government’s proposed pensions “deal” are planning further action in March. So far the executives of the UCU lecturers’ union and the NUT teachers’ union have agreed to set a date for further strike action in March and the civil service union PCS has also agreed to further action.
New events may be organised at short notice. Please check our website, Facebook page or follow us on Twitter @southwarkSOS for updates on this issue.

Follow us!
http://southwarksaveourservices.blogspot.com/
Twitter @southwarkSOS
Facebook: Southwark SSOS

Are you part of a community group or campaign? We’d like to hear from you. Tell us what you’re doing and we can advertise your anti-cuts campaign activities. Email us at southwarksos@gmail.com