‘The coalition has got it wrong. By only having a strategy for cuts, it has no plans for growth and recovery.’
So warned Unison general secretary Dave Prentis ahead of today’s protest against cuts expected in the Comprehensive Spending Review.
He was commenting as the unions released research which showed that an average of four people are queuing for every vacancy in the UK.
Prentis added: ‘Their public spending cuts are poisoning the private sector and condemning the country to widespread, long-term unemployment and low growth.
‘This means misery for millions of families and for taxpayer’s who will be left to pick up the long-term bill.’
He warned: ‘No sector is safe from the Chancellor’s axe. Despite his claims, there will be no refuge in the private sector for the 725,000 public service workers who face losing their jobs.
‘Private industry will be suffering too, with more than half a million jobs set to go because of the cuts.’
He concluded: ‘Tens of billions could be saved without jobs being lost or services being cut, if the government cracked down on the tax avoiders and tax havens.
‘Raising a Robin Hood Tax on the banks, making taxation fairer, or putting a stop to plans to replace Trident would save billions more, at the same time as safeguarding our recovery.
‘We must all fight the cuts for the sake of the economy and the future of Britain’s public and private sectors.’
Civil servants union PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: ‘When George Osborne sits down in the Commons on Wednesday after announcing the comprehensive spending review, he will have set out a package of cuts that will fundamentally undermine the welfare state.’
Serwotka added: ‘Our situation has nothing to do with public spending.
‘The collapse in the finance sector, due to greed, caused a sharp recession and higher unemployment, tax revenues shrank dramatically, and the welfare bill increased.
‘In making cuts, the government is making a political choice, not responding to “record” debt.’
The PCS leader warned: ‘The cuts threaten to reintroduce Victorian levels of poverty and inequality.’
He concluded: ‘We are planning the most widespread popular movement for many years. If the Tories want to see a “big society” in action, they won’t have to wait long – it will be protesting on their doorstep on Wednesday evening.’
RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: ‘We are receiving clear signals that transport is being lined up as a prime target for the ConDem cuts with 25 to 40 per cent expected to be slashed from budgets.
‘At the same time fares are predicted to rise by up to 40 per cent over the next four years.
‘Under this ConDem government the public will be forced to pay through the nose to travel on crowded trains and buses on creaking and unsafe infrastructure while the profits, dividends and top bosses’ salaries of the private companies are ring-fenced. That is a scandal.’
Dave Wiltshire, ATUA National Secretary, told News Line: ‘Despite what all the union leaders say, every worker knows that the only way to deal with this coalition, is to call a general strike to bring it down.’
