1.1% a year! That's all Rachel Reeves had to offer in funding increases for local councils in last week's spending review. This despite strain on council services is only going up due to an aging and sicker population, and inflation still running at over 3%.
Any faint hope that the Tories being kicked out a year ago would lead to the end of service cuts has been dashed. That's why it's welcome Unite has launched a campaign for fair funding for councils.
The lobby of parliament earlier this week with 80 Brum bin workers joined by reps from London, Bristol, Manchester and Scotland was a good first step in turning up the heat on Reeves, Starmer and their minions running councils across the UK.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham rightly said that “If you are a hostile employer, expect Unite to come for you. If you are a local authority attacking workers, expect Unite to come for you”.
The logical conclusion of this isn't just to come at cutting Labour councils like Birmingham with strike action and protests, but also with union-backed candidates pledging to vote against all cuts.
Monday's lobby saw Unite members shouting at the door of parliament to demand fair pay and funding – we need politicians making the same kind of noise for us inside. And if that means Unite backing working class, anti-cuts candidates outside of the Labour Party, the union should change its rules to make it happen.