“I pay tribute to the hundreds of thousands of selfless public service workers who have worked so hard through the festive period to clear our roads in horrendous weather, to keep our hospitals running, to provide our gas, electricity and water, to care for our elderly, the homeless, vulnerable children and the sick.
“Public service workers deserve the unequivocal support of all politicians. Instead, their reward is uncertainty about their future - their pay, their pensions and their jobs all under threat.
“In the difficult times that lie ahead, UNISON is committed to ensuring that their contribution to our society is recognised, respected and valued. Any attempt to make public service workers pay for the reckless greed, arrogance and risk-taking by City bankers, who should have known better, will be challenged.
“And to people who are jumping on the attack-the-public-sector bandwagon, remember, every redundancy is a personal tragedy and a blot on our society, whether in the private or public sector. Creating employment, so that people are not living on the dole, is the right thing to do. The public sector is the lifeline to our communities to help them out of the recession and it should be supported, not attacked.
“I urge the Government to inject some fairness into society. UNISON will stand up for our 1.4 million members and the essential jobs they do in our communities. It will ensure that their voice is heard at every level in our society as we approach a general election."
http://www.unison.org.uk/asppresspack/pressrelease_view.asp?id=1684