Unite to stage mass demonstration against Southampton City Council's imposed cuts

23 March 2011

On Thursday 24th March, Unite together with Unison and other trade unions, will be staging a major demonstration in Southampton against the Conservative controlled council's imposed pay cuts of up to 24 per cent for all employees (excluding school support staff).

A march will take place from Hoglands Park (Speakers Corner, near Debenhams) at 12.30pm, to the Civic Centre with high profile national guest speakers including Gail Cartmail assistant general secretary of Unite and Heather Wakefield, UNISON national secretary for local government.

Southampton city council has decided to dismiss 4,300 employees and re-engage them on massively reduced terms, despite a democratic ballot of union members which delivered a resounding 87 per cent vote to reject the proposals.

Mark Wood - Unite Convenor said: "Despite massive pressure, huge numbers of Unite members are resisting attempts by Southampton city council to undermine collective bargaining and secure individual acceptance of the council's changes.

"Despite what council leaders claim these proposed cuts are not modest , nor do they provide any crumb of security for the future of jobs and services in Southampton. There are still four more years and 28 per cent cuts to come. We believe this is just the start and the council will come back for more.

"This demonstration is just the beginning. An industrial action ballot and legal challenges are on the horizon. We would much rather resolve this matter by negotiation, however we are being forced into this last resort by an unreasonable employer, hell-bent on breaking its workers."

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