Cities and Work - addressing the challenges

http://gmpsiaprec.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/cities-and-work-addressing-challenges_3.html http://www.epsu.org/a/11199  "Most of the 24 million unemployed people live in towns and cities that host three quarter of the population in the European Union.

Municipalities and their mayors and councils therefore play an important role in addressing the challenge of job creation and reducing poverty noted the network Eurocities at a seminar. Mayors of important European towns like Barcelona, Stockholm, Warsaw, Rotterdam, Birmingham and others expressed concern about the impact the financial and economic crisis as well as austerity policies have had on their towns at a time when the demand for employment and social services has grown. They want a European stimulus and focus on the urban dimension of addressing creating jobs. 55% of public investment in the EU takes place at the sub-national level and fell between 2009 and 2013 from 2.5% to 1.8% of EU GDP. The mayor of Ghent Daniel Termont introduced a statement on Cities at Work for more and better jobs and a fairer more inclusive society which was adopted.
The mayors call for the European institutions and other actors including the trade unions to work with them. The municipalities criticise the restrictions there are on local public investment thus imposing constraints on towns that grow and need public infrastructure. Among many other things the mayors plead for a better use of social clauses in public procurement. The cities stress they are major employers and procurers of good and services and hence themselves players in local economies.
Eurocities calls for a high level summit on Cities and Work resulting in a roadmap of shared actions developed with all actors concerned. The proposals were discussed by a panel."


The above article by EPSU , is both a call to arms and recognition of the challenges faced by Local Government across the globe as central and state governments try to restrict local governments ability to raise funds through local rates, reduce funding from central government , try to bind local government with trade agreements (through states etc) , and generally reduce services at time when they are important to commodity growth and employment , keeping money spend in local communities for jobs and growth and much more, Some communities are fighting back work with local government Unions, the broad community and looking at alternate tools for community say , in including Fairness Commissions, in sourcing , and re- municipalisation and much more, to build skills in there community , grow communities and much more as opposed to privatization and contracting out ..... Greg Mclean