FIGHT in Birmingham

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As part of the cuts in social services, Birmingham Labour City Council has decided to close all the residential nurseries in the city. Other children's homes are also under threat of changed use and some are to be sold to another authority.

The effects of the closures will be devastating; staff in the homes that will have to take the nursery-aged children are neither experienced or sufficient in numbers to deal with the particular needs of these children.

Young babies and multiple-handicapped under 5's cannot easily be placed in family group homes designed for older children.

The decision to close the homes is the logical conclusion of the council's Child Care Review report. And despite promises of alternative proVision for child care first, the closures of the homes are being proposed with no such alternative provisions being arranged.

In fact, the widely advertised fostering campaign has miserably failed to find sufficient families to place children with and with the current levels of cuts, it is extremely unlikely that sufficient funds will be made available to potential foster parents-even assuming that sufficient numbers of foster parents could be found.

The news of the closures was not a shock to the two unions-NUPE and NALGO-involved; the child care review had been meeting for some 18 months, but its largely statistical conclusions that showed a reduced need for residential nurseries had been self-created by the deliberate run-down of the homes and the blocking of beds.

The two unions, however, had on the whole ignored the Review group and had allowed the running down of the homes to take place without putting up a fight at all.

Now, with the full time officials negotiating redundancies, the branch officials-who have done nothing to prevent or inform the union membership of the run-down of the homesare belatedly mouthing militant opposition against the line of the official full timers and are expression of dant on the suc the or this camal setting up a campaign. Yet their paign itself encourages demoralisation among the members, opening the best chance of eventual defeat.

At a joint NUPE/NALGO meeting following the council's decision, it was decided to set up an action committee consisting of representatives from all the homes and others interested in the two unions.

The meeting also declared itself totally opposed to the closures of any of the homes and resolved to prevent the closures with occupations or work-ins' and the setting up of an alternative placements unit to by-pass the management's blocking of beds.

There has been no doubt expressed by • the workers involved about the need for the residential nurseries but, left to the management, they could be run down to an extent that their defence would become impossible.

It is therefore essential that the workers-both in the homes and fieldworkers-control where the children are to be placed and maintain them as a viable service and thereby challenge the management's arguments that the homes are no longer viable.

These measures alone-though necessary and correct-will not prevent the closures. But so far both NUPE and NALGO have refused to take up the question and develop a policy of strike action to defend the occupied homes, which ultimately will be the only way to prevent their closure.

It has also become clear that arguments about the "oppressive nature" of the welfare state are being used to prevent any action at all.

While we as socialists recognise the repressive state interference of placing children in care, often leaving parents ignorant of their rights of access and/or contesting care orders, we nevertheless have to defend existing services where there are no viable alternatives.

It has been quite clear from the meetings of the workers that-contrary to "progressive" social workers arguments about the relative merits of fostering-a significant number of the children in these homes are foster break-downs and these are in addition to the large number of children who are unlikely to be fostered in any case.

leadership It is clear so far that the workers in the homes are quite prepared to fight. But it is also clear that the union is offering no leadership and is only reluctantly responding to the demands of the workers in the homes.

Without strike action, the homes are not going to be defended. Unless the union takes up this demand and fights for it the campaign could be a repeat of the one, two years ago in Birmingham, which, while partially successful in preventing the closure of 14 children's homes out of 18 then under threat, relied on stunt politics alone and laid the basis for the weakened union position which has allowed the council now to propose closures.

What has also come out from the campaign so far is the need for unions to be constantly monitoring cuts as they are gradually being implemenWorkers in the homes have in some cases refused to take children they consider should be in other homes. But many of the workers, isolated with no support from the union and under enormous pressure from management, have been unable to resist and have therefore wound up assisting in the run-down of homes.

The majority of these workers in the homes are women for whom their jobs are essential.

These workers are also the ones who have the greatest problems in attending evening branch meetings and easily become detached from the unien.

What is quite clear is the willingness of the workers in these homes to fight, but without clear policies of occupation and supporting strike action against the cuts, NUPE and NALGO have no prospect whatsoever of mobilising their membership to defend existing services and fight the cuts.

In this situation, spineless officials will no doubt continue to blame their own lack of action on the supposed "apathy" of the working class.

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