by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
UNISON, the UK’s leading public sector trade union, vowed in late August 2010 to step up its campaign to protect vital public services against Government cuts, in the wake of the latest research* highlighting the deeply regressive nature of the Government’s budget that is hitting the poorest hardest.
Following the budget, the union accused the Government of declaring war on public services and public service workers calling it “the most draconian budget in decades”, and called for fairer taxation, a transaction tax on banks and action against tax havens and dodgers.
Dave Prentis, UNISON General Secretary, said: “There is no compassion in this coalition. The Chancellor’s claims that his budget was fair and progressive have been blown out of the water. Well he didn’t fool us then and he’s not fooling anyone now. That is why UNISON is stepping up its campaign to protect the vital public services that the vulnerable and needy rely on most, ahead of the Comprehensive Spending Review.
“The Tories always revert to type. They are still the party that clobbers those on the lowest incomes, whilst helping the rich to get richer. It is a disgrace that children from low-income families are the ones paying the price for this bankers’ recession.
“UNISON has long been warning that the Tories plans would hit the poor hardest. Many families are already struggling to cope with the fall out from the recession, and things will only get worse.
“The Comprehensive Spending Review will pile more misery onto families, with more local communities set to lose vital services. The cost of everyday essentials such as fuel and food are already rising, with inflation and VAT hikes in the pipeline. This spells danger for low-income families, who spend the lion’s share of their money on everyday essentials.”
The problem is, however, that the previous Labour government so nicely left the coffers empty and the coalition government of Conservatives and Liberal-Democrats has no other choice than to make serious cuts.
While I am a supporter of the unions in general and of this one particularly we must all come to understand that when there is no money things cannot be done. I doubt that we would be very happy with a huge tax hike either.
© 2010
*IFS Research – Distributional effect of tax and benefits reforms.
