RIGHT across Britain local authorities are on the brink of collapse, with public services crumbling and working people left to pick up the pieces. 

Scotland’s largest local authority, Glasgow City Council, currently proposes to make more than £100 million in cuts to vital local services over the next three years. 

The trade unions must be militant. Glasgow’s SNP administration, backed by its partners-in-crime, the Scottish Greens, are provoking an industrial response with this budget. They will not get away with the political decision to inflict yet more pain and misery on working-class communities, which must be built back up from passive recipients of cuts to the site of a rejuvenated anti-austerity movement.

The opposition party should not be spared here either. As much as our campaigns enjoy the welcome support of some principled Labour councillors in Glasgow, the ideology of cuts is pervasive among all mainstream political parties. Just ask the people of West Dunbartonshire whose local services are being cut to the bone by Labour.

Under the most savage assault in Glasgow is education. The budget intends to cut a colossal 450 teaching posts in the city by 2027. And had it not already been for a dynamic trade union and community response in recent weeks, 11 of the city’s Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) co-ordinators trapped on fixed-term contracts would have been let go at the end of this month. 

People’s livelihoods treated like collateral damage, sacrificed for “savings” with only a few weeks’ notice. Adamant not to take this threat to our employment lying down, we immediately campaigned for our right to work and popularised the first-class DYW service in the public consciousness. We had two options — demoralisation or organisation.

GMB rallied outside the city chambers at the council education committee on March 7, side by side with the Glasgow City Parents Group and our sister trade unions. The Glasgow City Parents Group, which has previous successes in defending the Holiday Food Programme and specialist services within schools, issued a call to action in the lead up to the rally and mobilised parent councils in the effective mass lettering of elected representatives.

These demonstrations of our power and public support, of the growing united front against education cuts, were not in the council’s script. They reluctantly conceded an extension for all DYW workers until at least the end of the current school term. 

This buys more time for our members, but it is nowhere near good enough. The three-month extension will be treated as a campaigning window which allows us to continue building a coalition for saving the service on a longer-term basis. The Scottish government has a lot to answer for on that front. Developing the Young Workforce is a flagship government programme which remains the national youth employment strategy. 

Not fully funding an education service that provides young people with the tools they need to enter the labour market is an act of economic self-harm, even on the Scottish government’s own terms. How else do they plan on plugging the skills gaps in Scotland’s economy? As Professor John Foster outlined in the latest issue of the Radical Options for Scotland and Europe magazine: “One of the most important measures of a society’s future economic potential is the educational achievement of its children.”

Someone who knows this from first-hand experience is chair of the Glasgow City Parents Group, Leanne McGuire. She spoke with me about the collective action taken against the cuts, and the unwillingness of politicians to meet with parents and carers to hear their concerns: “As a voice representing parents and carers citywide, Glasgow City Parents Group has been actively conveying the genuine apprehensions of our community regarding this year’s budget reductions. 

“The sentiment among parents and carers is one of frustration and anger. We consistently hear about the strains on our schools, and many families feel as though they’re in a perpetual battle to secure the necessary support for their children, especially parents and carers of children with additional needs.

“Frequently, families are informed that resources are stretched thin, making it challenging to access specialist services. Learning about further cuts only intensifies fears that their child’s education and wellbeing will suffer. This collective concern is what has galvanised such widespread support from parents, carers, and parent councils in response to our call to action.

“Regrettably, the response from politicians has been disheartening. Not a single email response from the council administration thus far has extended an invitation to discuss our concerns.”

Sean O’Neill is a GMB rep and branch secretary for education in Glasgow. Follow the Glasgow City Parents Group at facebook.com/glasgowcityparentsgroup and @GCParentsGroup on X.