Union fears 200k job losses
By politics.co.uk staff
The GMB union has more than doubled its forecast for the number of jobs at risk from council lay-offs.
Before Christmas its national secretary for public services said over 87,000 posts are under threat.
Now his union is predicting up to 200,000 council jobs could be axed across England. While the bulk of these would come from directly employed council staff, around 50,000 would come from contractors and agency workers.
The cuts follow slashed local government spending announcing in October’s comprehensive spending review, which will see a 28% fall for council funding over the next five years.
“The cuts are here and now as the tsunami of job losses in local authorities just keeps coming,” Mr Strutton said before the new year.
“These are not town hall pen pushers but social workers, school dinner ladies, meals on wheels providers, refuse collectors, home helps, youth workers, across the range of front line council services that are being decimated. It is the most vulnerable in our community that will suffer.”
The Local Government Association has estimated council job losses in England and Wales will total 140,000 in the next 12 months.
