Homecarers 'Giving it Large'

A fantastic turnout from Home care Assistants at today's (27th March) full cabinet meeting. Singing, shouting and making themselves heard, 150 of the women turned out at lunchtime joined by service users and other trade unionists. Lining the busy street outside the Council House, Home care Assistants urged passing motorists to honk their horns in support. As the meeting began we packed the public gallery - some had to stand because space was so limited. The Cabinet member responsible for Adult Community Care, Cllr Keily walked in to take his seat to a chorus of 'Keily Out!' and a wall of slow hand clapping.

Stephanie Weston delivered her statement to the Council with dignity and passion. She recieved a standing ovation from everyone in the public gallery and many Councillors in the chamber below stood up to applaud her too for her powerful contribution (read script in post below). After a couple of supportive statements from labour Councillors Holland and Stone, the meeting took a remarkable turn . . .

Councillor from both Labour and Tories moved for a motion of no confidence in the Executive member for Adult Community Care. As it turned out, the Tories abstained from voting so Keily scraped through, but interestingly he didnt command a majority. Of the 60 Councillors only 26 voted to support him but it was enough to outweigh the 22 who voted for him to go.

Our campaign is going really well, we have public support, we have media support, we have service user support, we have the Council clearly rattled. Lets keep up the pressure!