| Date: Sat 6 Feb 2010
UNISON General Secretary launches Scottish 'Public Works' campaign
UNISON's general Secretary, Dave Prentis, today launched the
public service union's major 'Public Works' campaign fighting
back against cuts in public services. Speaking at a rally in Glasgow
Royal Concert Hall, he attacked all political parties' 'Macho
Politics' and announced that the union's research has uncovered
cuts of £300m across Scottish local government with a planned
job loss of over 3,000.
"No school cleaner gambled billions on the stock exchange." He
said, "None of them created this recession. Why should they be
expected to pay for it?"
Dave also pointed to the danger of cuts plunging the economy
back into recession as public spending is the only engine of growth
we have. "Spending on public services makes sense if you are trying
to grow the economy. "
He said, "for every pound spent on public services, 64 pence
goes back into the local economy."
Dave made it clear that all the major parties were to blame in
a rush to the bottom, but reserved particular criticism for David
Cameron's Tories who, he said, hadn't changed
"They are calling for savage cuts - using the crisis to dismantle
the welfare state. 20% cut in public expenditure over two years,
but tax cuts for the rich . a world of haves and have nots."
He also urged Gordon Brown to learn from President Barack Obama's
decision to stand up to American bankers. "Lets hear more about
pay freezes for bankers," He said. "Lets hear Gordon calling for
every last dime to be paid back to the taxpayer."
The rally, was attended by around 400 UNISON delegates from branches
all ac ross Scotland, and invited guests from communities fighting
cuts. It agreed to build towards a mass march and rally later
in the spring and decided to make public spending a major campaign
issue in the forthcoming General Election campaign
ENDS
Note for editors: UNISON's Public works campaign is part
of the union's UK million voices for change campaign. Details
at http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/publicworks/
UNISON's Alternative Budget can be found at http://www.unison.org.uk/million/resources/Alternative_Budget.pdf
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