Workers’ victory over anti-union SNP council

By Lynda McEwan, West Dunbartonshire

The SNP administration in West Dunbartonshire has, this morning, released a statement announcing their decision to reverse the cuts to trade union convenors and union facility time. This climbdown is a victory for the trade unions and local communities. 

Instead of the proposed cut to two convenors, they say they will now retain the full 3.5. This retreat comes after a mass campaign was mobilised, both in the work place and the local community, against a budget that detailed not only this attack to trade unions but a swathe of other cuts. These included a plan to share local amnesties with other councils, removal of much needed frontline public services and a reduction in grass cutting and care of flowerbeds in parks. These cuts still need to be fought.

The SNP now claim that their attacks on the trade unions were a “misunderstanding.” In reality this was a serious attempt to undermine trade union organisation that was fully supported by the Tories in West Dunbartonshire. 

A public meeting which attracted a huge crowd, with speakers from Unite, The Community Party and Socialist Party Scotland, saw workers make clear their anger at the cuts and their willingness to go to ballot for strike action if necessary.

A rally at a hasty meeting of councillors to debate whether to discuss with trade unions and well supported local stalls added pressure to a council who were already working against first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s statement in Holyrood and at STUC that “trade union time is precious” forcing them to “make the necessary amendments to the budget.”

This is a really significant win and shows what can be achieved when workers and the community take action to fight the cuts. They should now press forward with the campaign against all the budget cuts demanding more money and an end to the lcoal council passing on Tory austerity.