Tackle the Brighton and Hove job threats, says trades council

Brighton, Hove and District Trades Council has called a meeting in the wake of job losses across the public and private sector in the area.
The trades council said that it would be a chance to discuss what can be done and hear from local unions, including Unite, which are representing workers at Lloyds.
The meeting – organised with Youth Fight for Jobs – takes place at 6pm today (Wednesday 9 December) at the Phoenix Community Centre in Phoenix Place, Brighton.
It is flagged up on local union activist Andy Richards’s People’s Republic of Hove blog under the heading: “Lloyds – closing! Threshers – run dry! Borders – boarded up!”
Lloyds is closing its Sussex House customer contact centre in Gloucester Place, Brighton, with the loss of 373 jobs. The banking group has promised to redeploy more than a hundred other staff by May.
Threshers is part of the First Quench portfolio of off-licences. First Quench’s other brands included Wine Rack, The Local, Haddows, Bottoms Up and Victoria Wine. The company’s recent failure is expected to cost more than 60 jobs in Brighton and Hove where it had more than a dozen stores, all of which are expected to have closed by December 20.
Borders bookshop in Churchill Square, Brighton, is due to close on or by December 23, with the loss of a couple of dozen staff. The administrators are keen to shut up shop before the next rent bill becomes due.
Legal & General in Droveway, Hove, is still in the process of laying off staff, after 560 job cuts were announced in the summer.
In the public sector Sussex University is expected to shed 115 staff and Brighton and Hove City Council is also likely to make 150 to 160 staff redundant in the face of budget constraints. Sussex Police will budget for almost a hundred fewer posts in the coming year, more than 70 of them police officers.
Mr Richards said on his blog: “Across Brighton and Hove working people are being threatened with redundancy as workplaces close down.
“As well as Lloyds, Threshers and Borders shutting, Brighton Council is looking to lose 150 workers and Sussex Uni are to axe nearly 200 jobs.
“This all means while jobs are going the opportunities for finding work in our town are less than ever.
“Time and time again it has been shown that strong unions can and do make a difference when jobs are under threat.
“If not challenged companies will try (even when they are half-owned by the tax payer) get away with making job cuts on the cheap.
“We need to get organised against job losses and for job creation. Come along to discuss how we can win the best deal for workers.”