UNITE: Forestry Commission trade unions pledge to fight job cuts `tooth and nail`

UNITE: Forestry Commission trade unions pledge to fight job cuts `tooth and nail`

UNITE: Forestry Commission trade unions pledge to fight job cuts `tooth and nail`

Trade unions representing Forestry Commission employees in England have pledged to fight job cuts of 29 percent of the workforce – over 300 jobs – in England’s forests.

The unions have pledged to fight “tooth and nail” against the cuts, which are being announced today (Thursday, 3 February) in a series of staff briefings for Forestry Commission staff.

The job cuts are being put forward by the Forestry Commission’s management in response to a 25 percent reduction in funding imposed by the government as part of the comprehensive spending review, unveiled in November last year. The government has also ordered the Forestry Commission to sell 40,000 hectares of woodland, around 15 percent of the Commission’s land in England.

Speaking on behalf of the joint Forestry Commission trade unions, Robert Beaney, joint union chair, said: “We are appalled by the level of cuts and scale of land sales the Tory-led government is trying to drive through. These cuts represent the maximum possible within the law as it currently stands, and we believe the government will sell off the rest of the forests once the Public Bodies bill goes through as it will give it total power to do what it likes with England’s forests.

“The public have shown great support for the Forestry Commission and oppose the sell-off, but the government is railroading cuts and sales through already, hoping to get them under the radar. We totally oppose these measures and will fight them tooth and nail.”

The Forestry Commission’s management has launched a five-week internal consultation with staff over the job cuts. Last week the government also launched a separate 12 week public consultation over the future of the forest estate in England, which the unions angrily condemned as a “sham”.

Mr Beaney added: “Ministers have made a clear statement of intent by cutting now before the public consultation has even got under way. Any pretence that the public consultation is genuine is shattered by these cuts and sales announced today. It is clear that the whole exercise is a sham – window dressing to try and appease a public totally opposed to the sale of our forests.”

The Forestry Commission trade unions were briefed on the spending review driven cuts by management at a meeting in London yesterday and responded by promising to use every tool at their disposal to defeat the plans.

Ian Waddell, Unite national officer, said:
“Let there be no mistake, these job cuts and massive land sales will be resisted by our members. They make no commercial sense and are driven by a Tory-led philosophy which was not in any party manifesto and was never put before the public at the general election.

“If the Forestry Commission try to implement these cuts, we will use every means at our disposal to fight them, including industrial action to protect jobs.”

Unite, PCS, Prospect, the GMB and FDA are the trade unions representing Forestry Commission employees in England.

ENDS

For further information contact Ian Waddell on 07768 931269 or Ashraf Choudhury in the Unite press office on 020 7420 8914 or 07980 224761.

NOTES TO EDITORS

Unite has organised a rally and lobby of parliament on Wednesday, 9 February in opposition to the government’s public services reform. This rally and lobby is open to anyone affected by the Public Bodies bill.
Public Bodies bill rally and lobby
Wednesday, 9 February 2011
Demo from 12.30: Old Palace Yard, Westminster, SW1P 3JY
Lobby 14.00 – 16.00: Committee Room 6, House of Commons