First it was the health service. A £12 million plan to build a desperately needed extension to the Leeds General Infirmary was scrapped. Now it's education and the social services on the chopping-block.
Last week 103 Leeds social workers - more than one nire or al the ned. workers in the Leeds Metro district -published a dossier on the social services in Lecas. revcanne mar mey are coldesing and, in some cases, non existent. ine social workers themselves are suffering staggering workloads, a shortage of statt, and long hours of unpaid overtime. Meanwhile the Tories on the Council, the largest party, put forward a plan to cut social spending by £4,800,000.
£1.7 million of this will come from caucasion adult education students cut from 24,000 to 6,000; *vouth services cut by su per cent, and part-time staff's salaries halved; * 37 fewer teachers this year and a massive 346 fewer next year;
LEEDS training abandoned;
*bigger classes in schools children in every primary class, and * heating, lighting and cleaning levels drastically reduced, money for books and equipment in schools cut by 7½ per cent -Leeds already spends less than any Picket of Leeds Council, 25 June LEEDS EDITIS nursery schemes and in-service teacher - 2½ more 1½ more in every school-leaving class;
other city in the country. With inflation running at over 25 per cent. this about them needed against the cuts - discuss this plan on 25 June, every Further Education College in Leeds was on strike, and 400 teachers demonstrated outside the Civic Hall. The Tory plan was defeated by the combined Labour and Liberal votes. But this is only a postponement of execution, not a reprieve. The Leeds Labour Party, a bastion of the right wing, agrees that cuts are needed They are now putting their heads together in private with the lories to work out how to do it more discreetly, to avoid embarrassment at the next elecuons WELFARE STATE If the Labour Party were really serlous about detending wat s lett or the Welfare State they would * demand central Government take over responsibility for the crippling interest coavinents to me banks -110 million this year, nearly half the total amount of money raised in rates, * open the Council's books to show us where the money's going * raise the rate on industrial and commercial property (we haven't noticed a dus CHLy mCasures I me avs!
new company offices in Leeds) to pay for the social services; * sack Denis Healey, the author of the Labour Government's austerity budget, as Labour candidate for East Leeds at the next election:
organise public meetings in every area solaces what the Labour Party intends to do - just as they organised meetings to explain the plan to go comprehensive in Leeds is possibie to ngnt te cuts piece meal, or they will simply take away with one hand what they give with the other. A comprehensive action programme I:
- after all, that's what they've got for the cuts!
Teachers should refuse to cover extra classes, and reruse to teach classes larger than the present size Strikes should be increasing this woefully inadequate sum. the only way to protect buying power to automatically jack up the allowance every time the price of books and equipstandards. The Shops and Factories Act standards must be applied to school and college heating levels - teachers must - refuse to teach it these are reduced. Al lighting, heating and cleaning levels must be monitored. Only a few weeks ago. Leachers and students walkca Our o1 ble long-condemned slum buildings of St. Peters, an annexe of Park Lane College of F.E. in Leeds, and simply refused to So far the ATTI in Leeds have organised a half-day strike. This is a good be ginning, but it has to be built on and The Leeds NUT voted over whelmingly for a halt-day strike along with with the ATTI to picket the Council meeting, but when the resolution went to the avisiona councu ortne seed. Metro district half the Leeds delegates voted against their own members resolution and the strike vote was lost. Clearly an important part of an effective fight 3931TISE THe CUES IS MC HERE TOr UHOn aCHE democracy.
A fighting alliance with other public sector umons is also essenual to ensure mar une counci doesn t roo ceter to pay Paul, with an elected Joint Union Action Committee based on the workSupport must be won - and is tnere for the asking, as the Leeds con ference against the cuts showed earlier this year - from the wider trade union movement Inese are the sorts or ways we shall be taking up the fight against cuts that hit above all at working class families, and are as mucn a cur miner standard oi living as a hefty rise in the price of bread or meat. Every local council in the coun try will be watching the struggle in Leeds in the coming months, watching for the made. Every militant should also be
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