TRADE unions warned of strike action last night as anger over the impact of Government spending cuts grows among Oxford’s 50,000-strong public-sector workforce.

Calls for council, NHS, school and university staff to “stand up and be counted” followed a bleak forecast from a leading economist that job losses in the public sector could hit 750,000, rather than the Government’s estimate of 490,000.

Caroline Glendinning, secretary of the Oxford branch of town hall union Unison, said: “I think there will be strikes and it’s a fight where we will have public support.”

She said morale was very low among council workers and added: “We need to get people fighting instead of sitting back and waiting for things to happen. The longer this goes on, the more people will stand up and be counted.”

Oxford and Districts Trades Union Council president Gawain Little said more street demonstrations were likely.

He added: “Any strike action would be targeted to have maximum effect on the Government but to get maximum support from those who use the services.”

Chancellor George Osborne yesterday predicted 490,000 public sector jobs would go as a result of the £81bn cuts over the next five years outlined to Parliament on Wednesday in his comprehensive spending review announcement. But John Philpott , chief economic adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said that figure understated the full impact of the cuts on jobs across the public sector.

He said: “The CIPD estimates that the public sector jobs impact of the review to 2014-15 will be above 500,000, with total job losses rising close to three-quarters of a million by 2015-16 if the coalition sticks to its existing longer-term spending plans.”

Staff at both Oxford City and Oxfordshire County Council were briefed by managers yesterday, following the spending review announcement on Wednesday.

County Hall staff were told that the cuts were in line with what the authority had forecast and it was still planning to make £200m of savings by 2015 and cut about 1,000 jobs from its 22,000 staff.

Rail commuters are also bracing themselves for big fare hikes in the next few years, after the Government raised the cap on regulated ticket prices.

Peak commuter fares can now rise each year by the retail price index inflation rate plus another three per cent.

Increases had been limited to one per cent above inflation before the review.

Chris Bates, chairman of the Cherwell Rail Users’ Group, said it was bad news but passengers had been braced for worse. He added: “No-one is ever happy with an increase but it’s on the low side of what we expected.”

Thames Valley Police are facing a 16 per cent cut in their budget, raising the prospect of fewer officers being available to patrol Oxfordshire’s streets.

John Grant, chairman of the Thames Valley Police Federation, which represents police officers up to the rank of inspector, said failing to replace officers who left for other jobs, or retired, would inevitably affect frontline policing.

He said: “I fail to see how a reduction in police officer numbers will not translate into a reduced service for the public. It’s a concern. I don’t think numbers have dropped yet, but they will do soon.”

Mr Osborne yesterday defended his £7bn hit on the welfare budget, insisting that it was necessary to protect frontline public services.

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