TRADE unionists in Ipswich will be holding one of the biggest meetings of unions in the town for many years next month.

TRADE unionists in Ipswich will be holding one of the biggest meetings of unions in the town for many years next month.

A public meeting has been arranged by the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union, the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Ipswich Trades Council at the Corn Exchange on Wednesday, October 3, at 6pm.

The speakers will include Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS, Graham White, assistant divisional secretary of the Suffolk NUT and speakers from the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) and the Communications Workers Union (CWU).

The general public is also invited to the meeting where public sector pay, job cuts and privatisation will be discussed.

Harvey Crane, from the PCS, said: “People in Ipswich who work in the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and elsewhere are facing redundancies.

“This is at a time when the service to the public is becoming worse and worse. We believe this government needs to re-think its priorities when it is clear that society is becoming more and more unequal.

“Good education, good healthcare and good public services have in the past made Britain the envy of the world. We are now like some banana republic.

“When Gordon Brown says he wants to clear up issues such as the MRSA super bug in hospitals he has to look at its causes. Before cleaning was privatised this problem didn't occur.

“What privatisation leads to is a worse service where in the hospitals on the railways and elsewhere it can ultimately cost the public their lives.”

Are you concerned about public services in Ipswich? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.