Shoppers have signed a massive Valentine’s card to oppose cuts proposed to Moray Council and “show their love” for local services.
Representatives from the local Unison branch were in Elgin town centre at the weekend to gather support to oppose millions of pounds worth of savings.
A total of 89 jobs are expected to be lost as part of the plans, with up to 45 compulsory redundancies.
A rival budget proposal from the council’s SNP group has pledged to make no compulsory redundancies.
Last night, Suzanne Wright, branch secretary at Moray Unison, revealed there had been “excellent support” for her members from shoppers on Saturday.
She said: “People were very upset to see cuts to education, but also refuse collections. It’s what affects people day-to-day.
“One thing that came through was that people wouldn’t mind paying more council tax if they knew it was going to protect services – they like them and want to keep them.
“People aren’t opposing these for the sake of it. They’re informed, they know what’s happening and they’re prepared to do their bit.”
Moray Council has to make about £11million worth of savings over the next two years in order to stave off the threat of bankruptcy.
Mrs Wright added: “There doesn’t appear to be much thought about future years and how to make the council sustainable. It appears to be ‘What should we cut next?’”
Council unions are planning a colourful demonstration outside the authority’s headquarters on Wednesday ahead of budget decisions being made.
Senior representatives will present the Valentine’s card, emblazoned with “RIP Moray Council”, to members of the administration.
Council leader George Alexander and Tim Eagle, leader of the Conservative group, have both repeatedly stated that no members of the administration were elected with the desire to slash services.
Last night, a member of staff in a Moray school explained that morale had been severely dented by the spectre of job cuts.
He said: “It’s a very worrying time. If management can collapse important posts in schools then they will have set a precedent and will be able to argue for collapsing teaching roles in other departments.
“Given the current climate, we all need to be worried. A lot of the education proposals do not make any sense, other than financial.”