LIVERPOOL
LABOUR COUNCILLORS A long tradition of struggle against cuts: Liverpoo/ demo 1984 LNEUIDOL GITY COLNOL. LABOUR councils have a neat way of making their financial crises disappear -you hand the crisis to others to cope with.
Voluntary sector nurseries closing down, refugees denied access to English classes, the elderly shunted to more 'economical housing. workers sacked. The list goes on, as what could have been a political crisis for the Tories is turned into a social and personal crisis for thousands ot sacked workers or tenants denied services.
Lambeth council is no exception, despite its recently underlined left-wing image and the witch-hunt against 13 Labour Councillors, including the council leadership.
Havingaroused the chagrin of the national Labour Party and the Tories by voting against the Gulf War and Poll Tax bailiffs, the council leadership seem determined to see through the £26 million cuts process, and alienate their supporters among the local trade unions. Poll Tax apping will mean another £Il „o oo sän coçcó doned.
Resistance is mounting. Two Consumer Advice Centres were to be closed. The workers occupied the entres and have openea up lor business wnenever possible, giving advice on welfarebenefits, housing, and fel bills to some of the poorest in the borough.
Locals bring in food and small They then failed to build it, except in Lambeth. Lambeth NUT came out solidly in support, as did many NALGO workers: It was just a start to what may happen as education cuts accelerate.
There have been huge lobbies of committees by groups tacing closure or grant reductions, anger mounting as a handful of councillors sweep away services with a small, ashamed move ment of their voting hand.
The black community have been particularly vocal, as in the year we commemorate 10 years since the Brixton uprising, the partial gains forced out of the counci and govertment are evaporated.
There is a need to overcome the sectionalism of the response to cuts. Lambeth Anti-Cuts Campaign (LACC) has been established and begun the work of building joint union/community action. There is a long way to go.
But there is a growing understanding that the cuts can only be met with solidarity, as each group that begins by lobbying or its own service experiences the council's refusal to take heed of their arguments Lambeth NALGO is balloting for all-out strike action as we write. If won, it represents a chance to focus a real fight against the cuts. But a major opportunity has been lost. Át least six London NALGO branches have recently balloted on strike action.
Linking up these ballots would have been a step towards overcoming workers' fear of fighting the cuts in isolation.
has 'the NALGO bureaucracy been doing, as thousands of its member's jobs and services get slashed?
A narin COnVOT ing a meeting of London trade unionists and community groups to tackle this isolation. It can be contacted for information on 071 733 5670.