Members of Unison employed by Wirral council have been threatened with immediate suspension if they express their opposition to council cuts and job losses publicly.
Councillor Steve Foulkes has said that their treatment of staff iss reasonable as: “The council couldn’t have council workers, who are paid by the tax payers, spending 8 or 9 hours a day politically campaigning against the council.”
Teachers who have links with the local libraries and who encourage the children to use them have also been threatened with suspension if they publicly support the libraries.
Wirral council is planning to cut 11 libraries, 49 community centres, a theatre, a leisure centre, two museums and a swimming pool, and reduce social care provision.
We would ask trade unionists to contact Steve Foulkes at stevefoulkes@wirral.gov.uk, and to express their concerns to the inquiry team at Sue Charteris, Wirral Public Libraries Inquiry, wpli@sharedintelligence.net.
Wirral Against the Cuts c/o Wirral Trade Union Council, 4 St Ann Street, Birkenhead. CH41 3J