The Trades Union Congress is urging representatives from civil society to take part in its national demonstration against the government’s spending cuts to be held in central London on 26 March.
Trade union leaders shared an historic platform with leaders from civil society yesterday at a conference in Congress House entitled 'A future for civil society'. In years past unions have more been more likely to accuse the voluntary sector of taking services and jobs away from their public sector members, but in the shadow of the looming spending cuts the two groups have found plenty of common ground.
The conference was attended by representatives from a diverse range of civil society organisations (CSOs) and various unions, and delegates were unanimous in their condemnation of the cuts. Many were particularly angry that it is civil society and the public sector that is bearing the brunt of the government’s deficit reduction agenda while companies and individuals with enormous wealth appear to escape responsibility.
The groundswell of opposition that is building against the cuts was evident in comments from speakers on the panel and in the audience.
Neil Cleeveley, policy chief at Navca, which co-organised the conference with the TUC, said analysis of information from Navca members suggested that at least 20,000 jobs will be lost across the local voluntary sector in the UK. But he added the umbrella body was encouraging its members – local Councils for Voluntary Action – to challenge the cuts through the courts, especially if they will hit vulnerable or disadvantaged communities disproportionately, where they lack transparency, or are being pushed through without consultation.
Community Links chief executive Geraldine Blake said three of its ten community centres in East London are going to close and a further five are at risk. “These centres are already doing what Big Society wants,” she said, “the sort of preventative, early-action work that saves money further down the line.
“There are lots of opportunities in the Localism Bill for organisations like ours but the rug is being pulled from under us before we can grasp them.”
'The only opportunity is fashioning a noose and hanging yourself'
But Dr Rhetta Moran from human rights organisation Rapar “completely refuted” claims that the Big Society agenda presented opportunities for the sector. “The only opportunity is in fashioning a noose and hanging yourself,” she said.
Dave Prentis, Unison general secretary, said: “Big Society is not being used as a way of improving services to people in our communities, it is being used as a way of delivering services on the cheap. Everybody that we speak to in this government is talking about how cheaply they can be provided.
“Big Society is a disaster for everybody involved in looking after vulnerable people.”
He also posed the question: “How can the government base a public service strategy on a top-down policy of voluntarism? Volunteering does not come from the twilight zone of Westminster – the fact that the government is telling people they have to volunteer seems to me a misnomer in the whole debate.”
Prentis urged delegates to attend the national demonstration against the cuts being organised by the TUC in central London on Saturday 26 March. He said it would be an opportunity for all communities to show their concern about what is happening.
“It’s not just an old-fashioned trade union march, it is unions and community groups coming together to show what people feel about the cuts being made to public services, health services and civil society in this country.
“We need the broadest possible alliance, it’s got to include service users, voluntary sector organisations and charities, unions, and our communities. We have got to hold this government to account. It is not just for money, it is for a fairer society.”
Demonstrators will assemble on Victoria Embankment between Temple and Blackfriars at 11am and march to a rally in Hyde Park.
