Staff may walk out over jobs (From This Is Lancashire)

Staff may walk out over jobs

6:12am Tuesday 29th June 2010 in News

UNION chiefs have warned of the “devastating” economic and social impact the latest rounds of cuts will have on Bolton.

Bernie Gallagher, secretary on the Unison Bolton Metro branch, said members were angry, upset and dismayed at the council’s plans to cut £15 million from next year’s budget, as part of the government’s bid to bring the national debt under control.

And she warned that a mass walk out of Town Hall staff could not be ruled out, if the council is forced to make compulsory redundancies.

She said: “We are deeply concerned by the scale of these cuts.

“They will have a devastating economic and social impact on Bolton and the sheer scale of them means it can only have a detrimental effect on frontline services.

“As a union, our line is always against compulsory redundancies and while it may be achievable to hold that line this year, it will be more difficult in the coming years.

“If that line is crossed then we will be balloting our members on industrial action and that would have to be taken across the branch, not section by section as we have done previously.”

The cuts to next year’s budget, made public for the first time yesterday, is the start of a four-year effort by Bolton Council to slash its annual budget by 40 per cent.

And with anything up to 1,400 posts expected to go within the next four years, Ms Gallagher says workers at Bolton Town Hall are nervous.

She said: “It doesn’t end here. I think at the moment, those in back office jobs are a little bit more fearful than those on the frontline but unfortunately that is a bit of a naive view.

“There was this pre-election talk that frontline services would not be hit but the reality looks to be very different.

“This will have a devastating impact and we are deeply concerned, not just for our members, but for the wider community whose services are going to be cut.”

Members of Unison took part in a rally against cuts in Victoria Square last Tuesday, the day when Chancellor George Osborn announced his emergency budget.