Protests as Edinburgh council set budget
“We need more money”.
Last updated 23rd Feb 2023
The begging bowls were out in a sign of a good natured protest – but for unions and their supporters rallying outside the City Chambers the message this morning was deadly serious.
“We need more money”.
From before 9am around 70 protesters had gathered on the Royal Mile with flags representing Unite, the Edinburgh Trades Council and even the RMT. Unison supporters from the council and Edinburgh Unison Health Branch, with its traditional banner were also there.
The unions representing the bulk of Edinburgh City Council staff were there to protest a decade of cuts in council services and demand assurances that jobs would be protected.
Ian Mullen, Health and Safety officer for Edinburgh Branch of Unison, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service. “We’re looking for a no cuts budget that’s not going to affect the staff but that’s also going to protect the services that we provide as a council.”
He added: “There’s far too much outsourcing going on at the council at the moment. Every single year we come to budget time, year on year it’s cut after cut.
“The Scottish Government has got a responsibility to properly finance the councils – not just Edinburgh but all Scots councils.
“Edinburgh’s the capital we do not get a fair funding out of the system.”
“At the present moment, with the cuts being on a yearly basis, the next two years are going to be worse than this one. But this is bad enough.
“We are trying to provide services that have been cut to the bone . We have a massive issue with work related stress and fatigue syndrome because staff are having to work sometimes unpaid overtime, and we just do not have enough resources.”
Mr Mullen said he had heard “deplorable comments” from a senior council officer that schools welfare officers have been described as providing “a punitive service.”
“That is absolutely unacceptable,” added Mr Mullen. “ The cuts coming are going to severely effect the services that we provide to the most vulnerable in society. “
Unite officials had set the begging bowl montage outside the chambers to echo The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist, workers depicted in the classic Edwardian novel of working class struggle against poverty
Graeme Smith from Unite told the LDRS: “We’re here as the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. The council are asking for the goodwill of the workers in order for this huge cuts budget to be successful.
Unite represents 1,300 council staff across the councils from schools welfare and pupil support staff to waste and cleansing staff social workers and social care workers.
Mr Smith said: “We hope to draw attention to the continued under funding for over a decade now.
“There are proposals to axe schools welfare officers and speech and language therapists so we know for a fact that jobs are going to be under threat.
The Conservative amendment looks to be trying to remove the non compulsory redundancy policy which could bring , for the first time in over a decade compulsory redundancies back to Edinburgh council, which is a move we are obviously hugely against.”
Another Unite officer said: “We’re asking the council to join us in going to Holyrood to ask for more money.”