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Solidarity Calls for PCS Yes Vote |
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Vote Yes, Yes for action
Solidarity, Scotland’s Socialist Movement have called for PCS members to vote YES to both questions in the industrial action ballot.
National action in November 2004 forced the government to abandon plans to introduce draconian limitations on paid sick leave and led to an agreement which compelled all departments to take measures to avoid compulsory redundancies.
But the announcement of 27 compulsory redundancies in DEFRA and the DTI in October 2006 shows that the time is right to move to a further national ballot. There have been a number of Departmental campaigns such as in DWP - where eleven days of strike action were taken against job cuts and efficiency measures - and in the HMRC against “lean processing” an attempt to bring so called total quality management techniques into the department. Every workplace is feeling the pressure. These measures are not about making the service more efficient - 21 million calls to DWP contact centres are going unanswered and only 50% of calls to Jobcentre Plus are being returned within 24 hours. Meanwhile, the estimated official error overpayment amounts on state pension payments have trebled in the last two years since 20,000 DWP jobs were cut – on route to reducing that to 30,000 . HMRC have announced that hundreds of its local offices are to be closed and a further 12,500 jobs axed on top of those that have already gone. Yet the Department, seeking to save £105 million through staff cuts, has spent £106 million on management consultants.
PCS President and member of Solidarity, Janice Godrich said:
“Rather than making our public services more efficient the government is priming them for privatisation. We will continue campaigning with other unions to defend our public services as hospitals, schools, transport and other public services suffer from cutbacks while the private sector fat-cats have never had it so good.
“The national ballot for discontinuous action and overtime ban and work to rule is the biggest and most decisive part of the campaign yet. Britain’s anti-union laws mean that we have to inform over 200 different ‘employers’ that we are balloting in order to maintain a sustained campaign which allows us to organise various forms of action across departments. We must fight to repeal anti-union laws and allow trade unions the freedom to defend their members with the same vigour as the employer can use to attack them. Members have to vote YES to two questions in a national ballot which will look to begin civil-service wide strike action with a one-day strike on 31 January 2007, followed by a two-week overtime ban.
Co-Convenor of Solidarity, Rosemary Byrne MSP has called on the party’s members to get behind the workers and build for action:
“ As a party we need to show solidarity with the workers and join them on the picket lines as well as organising in our own workplaces for what will be a year of fighting back against, closures, cuts and the privatisation agenda of New Labour.”
Solidarity – Scotland’s Socialist Movement, includes many PCS members including NEC members Alan Brown, Danny Williamson, Cherly Gedling and PCS president Janice Godrich. Alongside other socialists and members of PCS Left Unity, we have helped to draw up these tactics and strategy, unity in action that has delivered successes in the face of the most concerted assaults on our jobs, pay and conditions yet. We urge all PCS members to vote YES to both questions in the industrial action ballot. Get involved in your union. Activity makes us strong. But also get active in building an active left and socialist opposition to the diet of wars, terrorism, cuts and privatisation which blight our daily lives. |
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