FB-AUCPB CLASS STRUGGLE UK 22 FEB

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BARNET COUNCIL WORKERS TO STRIKE OVER TORY PLANNED JOB CUTS

Last week, around 150 workers of Barnet council voted to strike against Tory council’s privatization plans. They are striking in protest at plans by the Tories to make job cuts.

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COPS DRAG PUBLIC OUT OF ISLINGTON COUNCIL CUTS MEETING
FEB 18 LONDON On Thursday evening police were called to Islington Council's budget cuts meeting and physically removed people from the public gallery, after they heckled and chanted "If you vote this budget through, that makes you a Tory too". See videos 1 and 2.http://www.twitvid.com/TVYL1
Earlier a march and rally had been held Islington Hands Off Our Public Services and local trade union branches. Inside a record 28 questions were tabled from members of the public many challenging the millions of pounds of budget cuts. Rowdy heckling included "You have a choice!" and "Shame on you", with more chants of "Labour council's gone berserk, doing all the Tories work" and "Whose Council? Our Council!"
In scenes being repeated across the country the council suspended the meeting and called the police to clear people from the gallery, dragging people out and arresting one (later de-arrested). The meeting then continued behind closed doors.
Protests like this are happening all the time - this saturday in london alone there are dozens of anticuts protests and actions: Lewisham Carnival Against Cuts - Hackney - Waltham Forest -UKuncut (7 london actions)
Reports:
http://pcseuston.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/islington-council-budget-meeting-is-this-what-democracy-looks-like
http://righttowork.org.uk/2011/02/islington-council-forced-to-pass-budget-in-secret-session/
http://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/news/police_called_to_islington_town_hall_as_council_meeting_descends_into_chaos_1_806216
See also: http://www.ihoops.org.uk
http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/campaigns/campaign-resources/there-is-an-alternative-the-case-against-cuts-in-public-spending.cfm

Photos http://london.indymedia.org/articles/7421


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ANGRY SCENES AS OFFICERS EJECT PROTESTORS FROM MEETING
FEBRUARY 18, Police ejected protestors from County Hall as politicians voted through £179 million cuts at an extraordinary budget meeting.
The tense meeting had to be halted twice, once when police were called to clear the public gallery and, again, when a fire alarm was activated an hour later, sparking a mass evacuation of the staff, councillors and members of the public.
It was the first time in 20 years that the gallery had been cleared.
During the meeting, Conservative county council leader Geoff Driver was involved in a spat with anti-cuts protestors, who he later branded “unruly louts.”
The decision means that thousands of jobs will now be axed from the authority and many services scaled back over the next three-years. One of the most controversial proposals voted through is the move to shut at least one respite centre for the families of disabled children within the next 12 months, sparking an angry response from the scores of angry protestors who gathered at the meeting. Before the start of yesterday’s meeting dozens of parents affected by the proposals made their feelings clear by staging a protest outside. Some told how important the county’s eight respite centres were to them.
After the meeting Manoj Majhi, 47, whose 14-year-old disabled daughter Amy attends Maplewood House respite centre in Bamber Bridge, which is one of the centres facing the axe, said: “I am totally deflated.
“I came here to see democracy in action and what I got was a sham. They didn’t care one iota what we had to say or how these cuts will affect our families.”
The county council budget was approved 42 votes to 23 after more than four hour
VIDEO
http://www.lep.co.uk/news/angry_scenes_as_officers_eject_protestors_from_meeting_1_3093737

Source- Lancashire Evening Post
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