Labour has won hundreds of council seats in England and Wales, as the tide has turned against the coalition government.
UNISON celebrated Labour victories in a string of councils that the union had identified as key for its members.
Chief amongst these was Southampton, where the council was defeated after a year-long battle with unions over its appalling cuts to pay and services.
Birmingham, Dudley and Cannock in the West Midlands, and Bridgend and Merthyr Tydfil in Wales were other significant councils gains.
UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis said that the Tories and Lib Dems were “paying the price for inflicting their austerity policies on Britain”.
Mr Prentis noted that for every day the coalition had been in power, 625 jobs had been axed from public services, bringing misery to thousands of families.
“The government should listen to voters who are saying loud and clear that it is time to change tack. We need a government that will stimulate growth and get people back to work, with the confidence to spend so that we stimulate the economy and keep local shops and businesses going.”
He added that voters had also said a massive ‘no’ to drastic cuts to vital council services, such as libraries, leisure centres, day care centres for the elderly, careers advice for our young people and the closing of sure start children’s centres.
By this morning, Labour had won 470 seats and 22 councils in England and Wales. There were a number of results still to come, including those in London and Scotland.
One immediate benefit from the election victories – and possibly a sign of things to come – was in Birmingham, whose new Labour council has announced that it will implement a Living Wage, raising the bottom rate of pay of £6.48 an hour up to £7.20.
This will affect over 1,000 staff. And later in the year the new administration will include this as a requirement in all council contracts.
“There is more to do, but this is a great start,” said UNISON’s West Midlands regional secretary Ravi Subramanian, who added that the results in the region were “stunning.”
Other notable Labour gains in the West Midlands included Cannock, whose Tory MP is Nazi stag party-goer Aidan Burley, who chairs the right wing anti-trade union Trade Union Reform Group, and Dudley, where one councillor is UNISON regional organiser Tracy Wood, and a cabinet member is Pete Lowe, who works for MiP.
“Just prior to the election the UNISON regional office provided joint training on council finances to the Dudley branch and the Labour group,” said Mr Subramanian. “We hope this will help the branch and the new administration deliver a ‘UNISON-friendly’ budget.”
Before the election in Southampton, South East regional secretary Phil Wood noted that “if our members vote, we can change the council. That’s why we have to pull out all the stops.”
Their success was a resounding one, with Labour winning a massive majority.
“The Tories played the election as a battle between them and the trade unions, and the public was made very, very aware of that,” said Mr Wood this morning. “So by voting overwhelmingly for Labour, the people of Southampton also voted for the unions and in favour of our struggle over pay and conditions.”
UNISON and Unite members in Southampton had celebrated long into the early hours, Mr Wood said. “There are a lot of different feelings. One is the sheer relief that the Tories have gone, because if they had stayed in power life for our members would have got even worse.
“On top of the euphoria of winning, there is enormous satisfaction. The lay officers and staff of both unions have actually done something incredibly important here in Southampton.”
The two unions are to meet next week, to establish a strategy for working with the new council.
“It’s very important for us to quickly and emphatically return to negotiations. We have had very encouraging conversations with the Labour group, whose campaign was based on raising pay. They are not going to do that tomorrow. Over the next couple of weeks we must discuss a timetable for that happening.
“They are the employer now and have a job to run the council, and we are representing members. We must work out how we are going to move forward together.”
UNISON’s Labour Link chair Steve Warwick echoed this view for all branches. “These results are a good start for Labour. But we now have to work hard with these Labour council, in places like Southampton, Plymouth and Exeter, to protect our members’ jobs and the services they provide.”