Council cutting back services following 48-hour

AFTER a long struggle • last year, Leeds Labour-controlled council finally agreed to grant the city's firemen a 48-hour week. This came into effect on Sunday, January 3 this year.

However, the firemen are still far from satisfied with their conditions. They claim that rather than pay men overtime, CALLAGHAN'S BUDGET HITS LEEDS MR. Callaghan's budge decisions have created a financial crisis for Leeds Corporation. The increased interest charges will mean €390,000 additional expenditure from the general rates fund in the remainder of the financial year.

Increased National Insurance charges will cost f88,000 in a full year. The higher petrol duty will cost the city £13,640 in 12 months.

The Labour-controlled council is passing this burden on to the people of Leeds. A plan to spend f34 million on building 1,173 houses and flats has been deferred. The amount available for improvements to existing houses has been reduced from €300,000 to £100,000.

Difficulties'

Leader of the Labour council group, Alderman King, is talking about 'extreme difficulties' and 'rigorous cuts.

It is likely that a steep rise in rates will also be introduced, as the higher interest charges alone are equivalent to a 5d. increase on the rate. And this would depend on the bank rate being reduced at the end of January. If it is not reduced, even more stringent measures will have to be taken.

Normanton Urban Council (near Leeds) is to hold a special meeting to discuss in detail a report by the district auditor on the state of the council's finances. The council has already decided to suspend the issue of home loans for three months because of the 7 per cent bank rate and the consequent high rates of interest. Leeds firemen claim the committee is the apparatus.

In particular, they say that turntable ladders have been withdrawn from service-so that in some cases, if a fire broke out in a high block of flats, it could take as long as 20 minues before the necessary equipment could be got there.

The firemen also claim that the Fire Brigades Committee is trying to 'get at them for winning a 48-hour week.

The state that the amount of drill and 'bull' in the stations has been trebled and that their annual leave has, in effect been reduced.

When on a 56-hour week, they worked three days, then three nights, with three days off. The usual arrangement was that the three days off came immediately before and immediately after their annual leave.

The Fire Brigades Committee is now claiming that this was a 'concession' and has cancelled the arrangement, which has stood for six years. The first three days are now counted as part of the annual leave.

Many Leeds firemen believe that the Leeds Fire Brigades Committee is more concerned with saving money than with providing an efficient fire-fighting service, and that some Labour councillors bitterly resent the men's struggle for better working conditions. • It is reported that firemen in one Leeds station are threatening stop paying union dues becaus the dissatisfied with the figh union is putting up. The Newsletter disagrees with this action. These men should stay in the union and fight for militant action.

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