Council’s union members set to protest against their employer’s cuts plan

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Council workers in Caerphilly will protest in opposition to their employer’s cost-cutting plans, a trade union has announced.

Unison said members will hold demonstrations outside Caerphilly County Borough Council’s headquarters next week, against plans to mothball two cultural sites and shut down a meals on wheels service.

The council maintains it has to make “very difficult” decisions to plug a £45 million gap in its budgets over the next two years.

Several of its money-saving plans have proved controversial, however.

They include proposals to mothball heritage site Llancaiach Fawr and cultural venue Blackwood Miners’ Institute, as well as axing its Meals Direct service and shutting a staff restaurant at its HQ in Tredomen.

Unison’s Caerphilly branch secretary, Lianne Dallimore, said a recent march through Blackwood in support of the miners’ institute “demonstrates the strength of feeling about these closures”.

“Many people depend on these local services which council staff work tirelessly to deliver,” she added. “The council must think again.”

The union said its members will hold demonstrations outside the council’s head offices on Tuesday September 24 and Wednesday September 25.

The dates coincide with meetings to decide the future of Llancaiach Fawr, Meals Direct, and the council’s on-site staff restaurant, The Hive.

A decision on the future of Blackwood Miners’ Institute has been held up owing to legal questions over the council’s plans.

The council has defended its proposals as a matter of necessity, rather than any desire to cut services.

Cllr Sean Morgan, who leads the local authority, said: “These are very difficult things to consider, but the council is faced with unprecedented financial constraints and we must make huge savings in order to balance our budget.”

But Unison says its own members, who work for the council, are against the cuts.

The union said Meals Direct staff had stressed the importance of the service for its elderly or vulnerable recipients, while workers at Blackwood Miners’ Institute and Llancaiach Fawr called the venues “the heart of the community” and “invaluable”, respectively.