Democracy Investment Fairness Excellence Partnership:
You VALUE it so VOTE for it. Use your vote on 3 May
by Chris Bartter
As UNISON stepped up its campaign to put public services
at the top of the election agenda, General Secretary Dave
Prentis has called for the elections to focus on public services
rather than a constitutional debate.
He told last week's Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC)
that recent opinion polls made it clear the people of Scotland
had identified public services as the most important policy
affecting their vote. Dave praised the increased investment
in Scottish services and the rejection of the so-called choice
agenda being followed disastrously down South.
"It is important that we refocus the election campaign away
from issues of the constitution and towards issues that really
matter, and which recent BBC polls have told us are the most
important issue for the Scots electorate - the provision of
services on which individuals, families and communities depend,
and how those are delivered", he said.
"The Scots electorate have, like UNISON, rejected the argument
that it does not matter who delivers their services. "Indeed
it is rather like arguing that it does not matter who is elected
on 3 May. It matters a great deal."
Dave pointed out that we developed our current range of public
services because of the inadequacies of others to deliver
in the past. Dave also attacked as unacceptable the 'tax fiddle'
that has lead to Glasgow City Council shifting its cultural
and sports services to a private trust.
"I sometimes get confused about the difference between tax
avoidance and tax evasion. I know one is illegal and one is
immoral but what Glasgow is doing is unacceptable. That a
public body funded through taxation should act in this way
is appalling. The threat to services is real and the impact
on jobs and on those who have devoted their careers to public
provision is substantial."
Dave called for public service workers to be fairly paid.
"People deliver public services, and we need to recognise
and reward the investment they make.
"Public sector pay policy must not be used as a means of
underpaying those who deliver for all of us. That is why we
welcomed the decision of the Scottish Health Minister to honour
the Pay Review Body settlement and not to betray the workers
in the NHS - albeit that the original level of settlement
was wholly inadequate.
"We reject the market in public services and reassert our
belief in public provision by adequately rewarded public service
workers."
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