Anti cuts campaigners are to lobby councillors tomorrow ahead of a meeting which is expected to see the second year of a £170 million two-year cuts package passed by Manchester City Council.
A march in recognition of International Women’s Day will be held this Sunday. Organisers say they have called the demonstration in protest against what they see as the disproportionate impact of government cuts on women.
PCS union leader Mark Serwotka is to be the main speaker at this Wednesday’s launch of Greater Manchester Unite the Resistance, a national campaign to strengthen strike action and opposition to austerity.
Manchester’s council tenants face an inflation-busting 6.48 per cent rent hike from April, according to plans signed off by Town Hall chiefs last week. Social tenants across the country face even steeper rises, as the government slashes welfare and pushes through housing reforms.
Core services in Manchester’s 39 Sure Start centres are to be preserved following a year-long battle by campaigners. Council-run daycare is still to be scrapped however – despite councillors raising serious concerns.
Unemployment in Greater Manchester has risen by 13.5 per cent in the last year while the number of young people claiming Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) climbed to unprecedented levels seen during the recession, according to the latest figures from the Commission for the New Economy.
Over two hundred people rallied in Manchester’s Albert Square on Saturday in opposition to government cuts to support for disabled people. Similar demonstrations were held across the country as part of a national day of action called for by the Hardest Hit campaign.
