Anti-Cuts Conference | IMGpapers 1980

Uncorrected machine reading. This text was read by machine (Apple Vision OCR) from a scan of a newspaper page, and the page was cut into articles by machine, at the headlines found by their type size. Nothing has been corrected: expect misread words, text from a neighbouring article, and titles that are the machine reading of the headline, some of them only fragments. Quote from the scan, not from this page.
How this article was cut and titled: headline found by type size in the OCR geometry (split_tabloid.py); 1-3 of 6; machine-segmented newspaper page; uncorrected Vision OCR.

page 12 of the scan

and Trades Councils are invited to the Conference.

and unions is expected.

London SW 2.

penalised still further by £3 million in government aid axed for community projects The result of course, will not only be massive reductions in housing and other social services this year but widespread redundancies. An estimated 29,000 jobs will be lost in addition to the 35,000 already lost this year under government imposed cuts.

DILEMMA For many local councils last year -reluctant to pusn trougn tne SOCIALIST ACTION PO Box No 65, London SW16 INN Typeset by Bread 'n Roses (TU) 01-485 4432 &

Camden Town Hall

Labour groups, public sector unions and stewards committees, CLPs have already supported the call and a big turn-out from Labour Parties For details write to: 'Local Government in Crisis Conference', Organising Committee, Room 103, Lambeth Town Hall, Brixton Hill, Called by Lambeth Council November 1st 1980 of the crisis and, secondly, it was not a long term solution since rates could not be raised every year as Tory cuts worsened.

That message has now sunk home.

Only recently, faced with the latest round of Tory cuts, Ted Knight (Lambeth Council Leader) admitted: "The rates would have to be raised so high that it would not be practical"

FIGHTBACK It is in response to this situation that Lambeth Council have issued 6 ISSUES - £1.50 12 ISSUES -£3.00 Printed by Spider Web Offset (TU) 9 Rosemont Rd., VW3. if councils submit to the directives.

Six Labour Groups Sec.) put it, replying to Hesaltine's latest measures: "The continued pillage of local government will leave cities deprived and their population with even fewer services"

FIGHT Lambeth's call for a conference to organise a fightback against the Tories is, in this sense, more urgent than ever before. It offers the chance for a united fight against the Tories and can avoid a situation where councils can be picked off in isolation.

Already, half a dozen Labour councils,a number of CLPs and delegates from public sector unions NUPE etc - have agreed to give their support.

That support now needs to be extended in the coming weeks. The outrage of union and labour leaders at the last round of cuts — has to be turned into positive backing for the fight back which Lambeth Council is organising.

CALL The first aim of the conference should be to agree on a united "no-cuts" position in the face of the Tory attack. in which Labour councils should be prepared to do the Tories dirty work for them.

The second aim should be - as Ted Knight indicates - to get an agreement among delegates to fight in the unions and Labour Parties for joint action to force the Tories to back down, or else remove them from office.

A key element of this will be solid support in the public sector unions for strike action to bring local authorities toa halt. The alternative will merely services dwindling beyond repair and thousands of jobs being lost.

----- pull-quotes -----

Subscribe! (socialist Action DEFEND OUR UNIONS!