PCS on strike

THE decision to take one-day strike on November 5 was not one we have taken lightly, especially when it is the biggest strike ballot in a generation involving the whole of the civil service. But when faced with savage cuts of 104,000 civil and public service jobs, and the main political parties engaging in the obscene sport of who can cut the most, oblivious to the disastrous impact such cuts will have, somebody has to stand up and defend public services. Just bureaucrats? Somebody has to challenge the misguided notion that civil servants are bowler hated bureaucrats with nothing better to do other than to push pens all day. Somebody has to stand up and champion the work done by the thousands of hardworking people who deliver vital public services that touch us all from cradle to the grave. When the government are looking to make cuts on a scale not seen since the attack on the miners, somebody has to say if you want decent public services then you need the people to deliver them. The course on which the government are embarking will damage the very services they have sought to improve, impacting on some of Gordon Brown’s very own initiatives such as Sure Start, the New Deal and Tax Credits, initiatives aimed at helping some of the most vulnerable in society. Civil servants all work as a team on the front and back line delivering initiatives such as Sure Start and delivering the things we take for granted, such as your driving licence or child benefit, and protecting our shores against the influx of drugs. Damaging services So for the government to think it can cut a fifth of the civil service arguing that it won’t have a detrimental affect on services because it will be the back room staff who get chopped is both insulting and naive. As was the manner in which they were announced – the first tranche out of the blue in the Budget with the grand total announced in a rather self-congratulatory tone by Gordon Brown in his Spending Review. It is therefore unsurprising that PCS members are angry. Angry at being left in limbo with still no real detail of where the axe will fall, fearful for their futures and unable to plan. Angry at being dismissed as just a bunch of faceless bureaucrats and angry at the damage such cuts will inflict on the very services they take pride in delivering. These are real people delivering real services to real people affecting our everyday lives. So you are left scratching your head when the government employs the rob Peter to pay Paul argument as a basis to slash jobs, saying it will mean more for areas such as health, education and crime. You are left wondering about what value key parts of the public service such as pension credit and winter fuel payments are held in. The government are essentially creating a false divide and saying one part of the public sector is more important than another. The result – poorer services delivered further away from the very people they are meant to serve. Taking a stand This is why as a union we are taking a stand. A stand that says if you want decent accessible public services you need civil servants to deliver them. A stand which says that are no false divides in public service delivery and the work that civil and public servants do across the country is integral to every section of our society’s lives. It is a stand in which we as a trade union movement and as members of society need to stand shoulder to shoulder, saying no to the cuts. PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka explains why his union launched strike action on November 5 against government plans to cut over 100,000 civil service jobs Defending public services RMT news – Public services 18 HERE TO SERVE: Civil servants provide essential front line services to the public PUBLIC: PCS workers held a one-day strike earlier this month John Harris/reportdigital