Defend Council Housing Organising Meeting - 22nd December
richarddirecttv | 21.12.2004 00:18 | Social Struggles | Oxford
Please come along to this meeting. We will be considering tactics, locations for future meetings, suggestions for speakers and any literature we should be putting out.
If possible we would like at least one person from each Tenants Association to attend the meeting, so that all areas of Oxford are represented. However everyone is very welcome to attend and the meeting is not intended to be limited to council tenants only.
(richarddirecttv adds:) A very successful public meeting was held in Oxford last Wednesday, called by the Oxford and District Trades Union Council, and supported by UNISON. The campaign to defend council housing is currently arguing for a "level playing field" for the "4th option". The first three options are different versions of privatisation of the public housing stock. In fact, the most efficient way for housing stock to be improved is for it to remain in the council's ownership, and the funds which come from rents and sales of houses to be used for the maintenance and improvement of the council stock. This is the 4th option, which council tenants should have a right to vote for. Instead, under directives from the World Trade Organisation to privatise public utilities, the UK government is pursuing the more expensive and wasteful privatising options. They can only do this by restricting the efficient and democratic method, in other words, by not giving local councils the money they should rightfully have. Despite this blackmail ("vote for privatisation, and your repairs will get done!"), in Oxford 70% of tenants thought that it was "very important" to have the council as landlord, and nearly 90% thought it was "important" or "very important". Oxford City Council has agreed to have a 4th choice on the ballot of council tenants: to stay with the council as tenant. A crucial plank of the campaign is to say that if tenants choose this, councils should be given the funds which would be thrown at the privatisation options, and control over the revenues from their own housing stock. Please get involved with this vital campaign, which affects 6 million people in Britain. (richarddirecttv's contribution ends)
For further details or more information about the campaign, please contact:
Oxford Defend Council Housing
UNISON Office,
St. Aldates Chambers, 109 St. Aldates, Ox1 1DS
Email:
unison@oxford.gov.uk
If possible we would like at least one person from each Tenants Association to attend the meeting, so that all areas of Oxford are represented. However everyone is very welcome to attend and the meeting is not intended to be limited to council tenants only.
(richarddirecttv adds:) A very successful public meeting was held in Oxford last Wednesday, called by the Oxford and District Trades Union Council, and supported by UNISON. The campaign to defend council housing is currently arguing for a "level playing field" for the "4th option". The first three options are different versions of privatisation of the public housing stock. In fact, the most efficient way for housing stock to be improved is for it to remain in the council's ownership, and the funds which come from rents and sales of houses to be used for the maintenance and improvement of the council stock. This is the 4th option, which council tenants should have a right to vote for. Instead, under directives from the World Trade Organisation to privatise public utilities, the UK government is pursuing the more expensive and wasteful privatising options. They can only do this by restricting the efficient and democratic method, in other words, by not giving local councils the money they should rightfully have. Despite this blackmail ("vote for privatisation, and your repairs will get done!"), in Oxford 70% of tenants thought that it was "very important" to have the council as landlord, and nearly 90% thought it was "important" or "very important". Oxford City Council has agreed to have a 4th choice on the ballot of council tenants: to stay with the council as tenant. A crucial plank of the campaign is to say that if tenants choose this, councils should be given the funds which would be thrown at the privatisation options, and control over the revenues from their own housing stock. Please get involved with this vital campaign, which affects 6 million people in Britain. (richarddirecttv's contribution ends)
For further details or more information about the campaign, please contact:
Oxford Defend Council Housing
UNISON Office,
St. Aldates Chambers, 109 St. Aldates, Ox1 1DS
Email:
unison@oxford.gov.uk
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