UNISON Wins £20k to Run Major Campaign on Cuts to Council Funding
The branch is delighted to have secured £20,000 from UNISON's National Campaign Fund to expand its #GIVEITBACKBRIGHTONANDHOVE campaign to fight for better funding for local public services and jobs.
If we don't take our fight for the reinstatement of proper council funding to the government, we are all - whether trade unions, councillors or residents - complicit in the managed decline of the vital public services we all rely on. The government, and whoever wins the next general election, needs to know that we will not sit back while the very fabric of our public services unravels. As council leader, Bella Sankey said in her letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer as the Autumn statement is prepared ‘We need a fairer deal for our city’.
Working with award winning local Marketing Agency, Arke, here's just some of what we plan to do:
Create a ‘life-sized’ graveyard installation of lost services/jobs/community resources etc. This to be toured around the city to raise public awareness of what 13 years of government cuts have taken from everyone in Brighton and Hove.
A special consultation/collaboration with residents to build a vision of the city based on what could be done for local people if the £120m taken by successive Tory governments were given back. Encourage people to challenge the ‘managed decline’ of their public services and start to believe that they are worth more.
Extending signatories to the open letter – adding yet more local politicians, trade unions, employers, religious leaders, community groups and businesses.
Put together a comprehensive toolkit for other local authorities and UNISON branches to run their own GIVEITBACK actions and campaigns.
Bring the campaign to a dramatic conclusion by getting all involved authorities and unions to bring their graveyards to set up outside parliament next year in the run up to the election.
If you'd like to be involved - either by helping come up with locations to take our graveyard installation, sharing on social media, helping recruit more signatories to the open letter, or anything else, do get in touch with the branch.
