Socialist Resistance

An archive of socialistresistance.org, 2002–2022

Fight Blair's public service carve-up!

Socialist Resistance no29  |  page 24

This is scanned newsprint, not web text. The original PDFs carried no text layer at all, so every word here was read off the page by OCR. Expect dropped opening letters, run-together words and wrong characters. There was no contents page to cut the paper up by, so the articles were found from the size of their headlines: a headline may carry its kicker, and where an article ran beside a boxed panel a few lines of the neighbour can appear. The scanned issue is the authority; this text is here so the words can be found at all.

You get a better view with socialist resistance workers are under the hammer from Tony Blair's New Labour government.

• Local government staff face a fresh onslaught on their pension rights, as ministers come back with even worse proposals after deferring the issue until after the General Election.

• Civil servants face not only an attack on their pension rights, but a wholesale package of job cuts as ministers look to axe 100,000 jobs as a means to finance lower taxes for the rich.

• As David Blunkett takes time out of

remains of the welfare state, his first target for a fresh round of cutbacks will be people with disabilities who currently depend on incapacity benefit. • Education, which has been rocked by the imposition of fees and top-up fees, faces a renewed drive to privatisation of schools with the establishment of more city academies. • And the National Health Service faces a deadly combination of cash crisis - forcing cuts and closures - on the one hand, and privatisation, with the expanSUBSCRIBE! SOCIALIST RESISTANCE is a monthly marxist paper. Our subscription rate is 1 year for £12 (UK), £15 (Europe) or £20 (other overseas. For more details fill in this coupon, ticking the appropriate box and send to us at: PO Box 1109, London N4 2UU Please make cheques payable to RESISTANCE ripping off vital NHS funds and staff, on the other.

Public sector unions have passed motions at Labour conference and at the TUC opposing these attacks - but their leaders have yet to turn these brave words into serious action to confront the problems head on.

Union leaders who have loyally funded and protected Blair's government through three elections must be forced to break from their subservient approach and take a stand in defence of

the new paper. donation of £.... RESISTANCE readers' group. email

NHS crisis - page 7 Disability - page 6 their own members. This is why it is vital to build a fighting, democratic left in the trade unions that can call the leaders to account, and press for real action to defend workers' interests. It's time public sector workers got some Respect! • Please send me a year's subscription to I enclose £12 • £15 • £20 • I enclose a • Please put me in touch with the nearest

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