No Go for Thatcher

FOR THATCHER IN HARINGEY !

HARINGEY LABOUR a BRIEFING

NO CUTS IN JOBS OR SERVICES!

People in Haringey should BEWARE — Thatcher is crying crocodile tears for the inner cities. Our community is in danger. Jobs, services, and local

democracy are under threat.

COUNCIL CRISIS

After eight years of Tory attacks, Haringey Council's budget is in crisis. Each year the gap between the Council's income and its expenditure has grown. This is because the Tories have starved the Council of the funds it requires to meet the real needs of the Borough. This gap has been closed in the last few years by borrowing and accountancy measures. We have no more room for manoeuvre. We must stand and fight for our community.

At the moment, we do not know whether the Labour Council will lead this fight, or whether it will succomb to pressure and make cuts in jobs and services.

THE NEXT TORY ATTACK

The budget crisis is only part of a widespread Tory attack on our living

Haringey fights back!

standards and our democratic rights.

@ The Tory poll tax will undermine the very purpose of Labour Councils — to redistribute wealth from those with more than enough to those without enough. It will force thousands off the electoral register and restrict the right to vote.

@The plans for council housing will lead to huge rent increases and will subject thousands in the Borough to the greedy whims of private landlords.

@The education plans will reintroduce ‘‘eleven-plus’’-style selection and condemn thousands of local working class children to a_ third-rate education.

®@ Privatisation plans will place vital services like school meals, school cleaning, and street sweeping in the hands of private contractors who will cut staff and wages and sacrifice standards in pursuit of a quick profit.

@Docklands-style Urban Development Corporations will enable property speculators to bypass democraticallyelected local councillors. They will build luxury homes and offices for the rich and throw out working class people.

@ New laws will gag the Council and prevent them campaigning to get more resources for the people’ they represent.

HARINGEY’S NEEDS

All this the Tories claim to be doing for the inner cities. But none of it will help meet the real needs of places like Haringey. What are these needs? To begin with, a few basic necessities:

@ Real jobs with decent pay and conditions for the unemployed.

@ Cheap, comfortable homes for the homeless and for the thousands trapped on the Council’s waiting list.

@ Cheap and efficient public transport.

@Security and independence for the elderly, many of whom rely on Council services to live any kind of worthwhile life.

@ A top quality NHS — everyone has a right to the medical treatment they need, when they need it.

@ Childcare for parents who need and want to work.

@A clean and safe environment; parks and leisure facilities available to all.

@Equal rights and opportunities for women, Black people and_ ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and lesbians and gay men.

@A genuinely comprehensive education system — with highly-trained, fully-supported, and well-paid staff.

The list goes on and on. These are basic needs, not luxuries. Does the Tory government intend to meet these needs? No! It plans more and more cuts. It plans to take away what little we've got.

OUR PLEDGE TO THE PEOPLE

In the local elections of May 1986, Labour won an overwhelming victory on an unequivocal platform of no cuts in jobs and services. Councillors who stood on that platform knew just what this pledge would mean if the Tories won a third term.

lf Labour Councillors turn themselves into Thatcher’s accomplices — even with the best will in the world — they will undermine Labour’s support in the community and make it that much harder to unite the workers and residents of the Borough in organised resistance to the newest wave of Tory attacks.

The people of Haringey cannot wait four or five years for the next general election. Our needs are urgent. Our demands are just. We must begin the task of organising to get the resources we need now.

THE BOTTOM LINE

We have reached the bottom line. You cannot ask for more sacrifices from people who have nothing left to sacrifice. The people of Haringey must stand firm and say no to the Tories — in their trade unions, in their community groups, on the Council estates, and in their schools and colleges.

Already, the rent payers and ratepayers of Haringey have been asked to pay too much to offset the damage done by the Tories. Neither they nor the workforce have any more to give. There is only one answer to Haringey’s crisis — we must have more money from central government and we must have the right to spend it as we see fit.

“PAINFUL DECISIONS”

All along, the government's tactic has been to force the Labour Council to make the cuts on its behalf. Each new

piece of Tory legislation has made it harder for the Council to meet its obligations to the people of Haringey. The right wing of the Labour Party now tell us we must make ‘‘painful decisions’’. By this they mean the Labour Council must decide which services to restrict, which workers to sack, which vacant posts not to fill. They say we must remain ‘‘within the law’’ no matter how much suffering this thrusts on to the already over-laden backs of our people.

The pain of these decisions will be born not by the Labour Councillors but by the workforce and the residents of Haringey. If the law prevents us from acting to meet the needs of the people we represent — then the law is wrong and must be broken.

IMPROVING SERVICES

Services in Haringey are far from adequate. Rising unemployment, homelessness and poverty have meant increased demands on these services. The extra resources needed to meet these demands have not been made available. To improve services we must, first, win new resources to fund them, and second, place them under local democratic control..

HARINGEY LABOUR BRIEFING

Haringey Labour Briefing is made up of local Labour Party and trade union members. We campaign actively for a Labour victory in last year’s Council elections and in the general election in June. We believe Labour Manifestos should mean what they say. We support all those Labour Councillors who are now sticking by their pledge to the electorate — and who will vote in Council against all cuts in jobs or services.

We do not believe that ‘‘Labour cuts’’ are somehow better than ‘’Tory

cuts’’. The Tories will not be satisfied with just one round of cuts — they will come back for more and more and more. They are determined to put an end to local democracy. LABOUR BRIEFING is equally determined — we will make their task as difficult as possible.

Come what may, we will be organising opposition to any cuts in jobs or services. We want to help build a campaign to win the resources that Haringey needs — and place them under real local democratic control.

FORWARD EVER -BACKWARD NEVER

Haringey has seen its share of political struggle in recent years. The Broadwater Farm community, the Black and ethnic minority communities, lesbians and gays, parents, teachers, transport workers, health workers, the Irish community, people with disabilities and many more — all have organised themselves to fight back against the Tories’ attacks on their rights and living standards. Now all these forces must unite to resist the Tory attack on Council services and jobs, and on local democracy in general.

The power to defend jobs and services, to rebuild our community, to save Haringey, lies with the workers and residents of the Borough — with you! After their election victory, the Tories are counting on working people giving up the fight and retreating to their own homes (if they’ve got one) and worrying about their own jobs (if they’ve got one!). Don’t make the Tories’ job any easier for them — join with your neighbours, your workmates, with all the people in Haringey who've suffered under Tory misrule — and fight

HARINGEY FIGHTS BACK!

What Can You Do? aaa

x Visit your Labour Councillors or write to them. Tell them you can’t afford any more cuts in jobs or services. Tell them you expect them to stand by their election

commitments.

x Sign the petition calling on the Council to stand firm on its pledge of no cuts in jobs or services. Circulate the petition at your workplace, your community group, your college or school, among your friends and neighbours.

* Document the needs of your community — and compare them to what you already have. Remember, cuts will mean you will have even less!

* Get your local community group or trade unoin to send a delegate to the founding meeting of HARINGEY FIGHTS BACK! — a local campaign to defend jobs and

improve services.

PUBLIC MEETING

to launch Haringey fights back!

a local campaign to defend jobs and improve services

MONDAY , 14th , SEPTEMBER 8pm

at Brabant Road Trade Union Centre | (on the corner of Station and Brabant Road, 100 yards from Wood Green tube) Speakers will include: local councillors, representatives from local trade unions and community groups.

lf you would like more information, please complete this form and return it to: HARINGEY FIGHTS BACK!, c/o 11 Springfield Road, London N15.

Please send me more copies of this broadsheet ..

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Published by Haringey Labour Briefing, 11 Springfield Road, London N15 Printed by Wernham Printers, 4 Forster Rd, Tottenham, N.17

CAMDEN NALGO & LONDON BRIDGE.

LONDON FIGHTS BACK! AN ALL - LONDON CONFERENCE

AGAINST CUTS IN COUNCIL JOBS AND SERVICES.

ie SUNDAY 20th SEPTEMBER 1987. |

10.00am to 5.00pm. CONWAY HALL

2 Red LION SQUARE LONDON WC1. B

ACCESS and TOILETS for WHEELCHAIRS. SIGNER and CRECHE AVAILABLE.

for further details....CONTACT: CAMDEN NALGO 278 4444 ext 2431.

Nalgo Branch Office The Town Hall Extension London NW1 2RU

a ee MES RE ES a eee

AN

ALL - LONDON

CONFERENCE

CAMDEN WORKERS AGAINST CUTS i

THIS LONDON-WIDE CONFERENCE AIMS TO DRAW TOGETHER ALL OF US WHO OPPOSE THE CUTS IN THE LOCAL BOROUGHS -not only through unions but also through voluntary groups, women's groups, black groups, lesbian and gay groups, tenants associations, political groups and groups for

people with disabilities.

- the government legislation on local authorities - including proposals on poll tax and privatisation.

- the deterioration of services in the Inner Cities.

- the moves by some Labour Councils to implement cuts in jobs and services.

- the backlash in local boroughs against equal opportunities initiatives.

- the fightback by Council unions, voluntary

groups,political groups and users.

THE CONFERENCE WILL BE PLANNING ACTION AGAINST

CAMDEN NALGO

Name of Organisation:

Address:

No:

Tet:

Fiease return to: Camden Nalgo, fou - LONDON BRIDGE.

Camden Nalgo Office, Town Hall extension, Euston Road. London NW1.