by Caroline Colebrook
JOB CENTRES and benefit offices across Britain faced severe disruption last week as thousands of civil servants took strike action for 48 hours in protest at the imposition of a three-year below-inflation pay rise.
Members of the PCS civil service union employed in the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Child Support Agency are furious that the pay deal will give them a two-per cent pay rise this year, no pay rise at all the next year and a mere one per cent in the third year.
When inflation is taken into account this adds up to a serious pay cut for around 120,000 workers – most of whom are already on low pay. The lowest paid will find their wages just 24 pence above the minimum wage.
The union pointed out that DWP management had enough money to guarantee every member of staff an increase in line with inflation this year; instead they chose to squander £39 million on bonuses.
PCS estimates that over 85 per cent of members took part in the first day of the strike, Thursday 6th December.
Reports on the strike indicated that despite the weather picket lines have been well supported, offices were forced to close across the country.
struggled
There was little or no service was being offered to the public in those offices that remained open as senior managers struggled to offer some form of service.
Telephone contact centres were also hit with callers failing to get through and a number of sites playing recorded emergency messages.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka commented: “This is a dispute the Government and the department could have avoided, but instead they have provoked staff into strike action by imposing poverty pay on a workforce that has already experienced massive job cuts.
“It is completely unacceptable that some of the lowest paid in the civil service are receiving increases that take their pay to just 24 pence above the minimum wage and that staff who have stuck with the DWP through thick and thin are expected to receive nothing next year.
“Staff will not sit back and be allowed to be used by the government as an anti-inflationary tool, especially when there is no evidence to suggest that their pay fuels inflation.
“The Government and the department need to understand the impact that imposing a real terms pay cut has on the morale of staff. The staff at the forefront of delivering the lowest unemployment in a generation deserve better and its time the department and the government recognised this by paying them fairly.”
The union is maintaining a work to rule.
Friday 14 December 2007
Thursday 1 November 2007
Job cuts: claimants go hungry and cattle suffer
PCS last week drew attention to new evidence that shows Government civil service job cuts are damaging the efficiency of various departments.
Currently 270,000 members of PCS are voting in a consultative ballot for national industrial action across the civil service in a campaign against job cuts, below inflation pay and privatisation.
In Scotland it emerged that Stirling Citizen Advice Bureau (Cab) has begun handing out food vouchers because new claimants are going hungry as they wait up to eight weeks to get their benefit paid.
With the nearly 30,000 jobs axed and the closure of over 600 jobcentres and benefits offices across Britain, the union warned that the situation could get worse and echoed Stirling Cab’s fears that up to 22,000 people in Scotland could be in need of emergency help.
Job cuts in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have already led to 21 million calls going unanswered, people having to travel unacceptable distances to get help back in to work, as well as waiting longer to access benefits.
Elsewhere following a report by the Chief Scientific officer on the control of Bovine TB, the union warned that the Government would be unable to act on his advice in using all the options available to contain the disease as it had axed the frontline staff responsible for tackling Bovine TB earlier this year.
The union criticised the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for appearing to base its policy on the control of Bovine TB on cost cutting rather than science.
PCS members are currently voting on further national strike action across the civil service as part of the union’s campaign against job cuts, below inflation pay and privatisation.
The campaign has already seen two strongly supported national one-day strikes this year. The ballot closes on 31st October 2007 and the result is expected to be announced shortly after.
Commenting, PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka, said: “It is scandalous that people are having to rely on food vouchers because the system is failing them due to arbitrary job cuts and office closures. There is a genuine fear that the situation will only get worse as more job cuts follow and more offices close.
“Added to this you have the Government unable to act on the latest scientific advice regarding the spread of Bovine TB because it has axed frontline staff who control the spread of the disease.
“Job cuts across a number of areas in the name of efficiency are resulting in failing services and limiting the Government’s ability to respond to issues and events. The Government needs to recognise the damaging impact cuts are having by halting further job losses and addressing the union’s concerns on services, pay and privatisation.”
Meanwhile members of the Government’s new Unified Border Force – launched this summer by Gordon Brown as a major counter-terrorism initiative – are complaining they get so little training that the force is undermining rather than strengthening security.
Staff say they are being asked to perform key roles such as passenger profiling with less than three hours’ training.
Customs staff at Purfleet, on the Thames, who have been ordered to search vehicles – work previously done by immigrations officers – say checks have been halved because of lack of preparation.
The new force combines staff drawn from Revenue and Customs, Immigration and Nationality Directorate and UK Visas, the passport agency.
The workers are now supposed to perform each other’s roles with very little training.
Currently 270,000 members of PCS are voting in a consultative ballot for national industrial action across the civil service in a campaign against job cuts, below inflation pay and privatisation.
In Scotland it emerged that Stirling Citizen Advice Bureau (Cab) has begun handing out food vouchers because new claimants are going hungry as they wait up to eight weeks to get their benefit paid.
With the nearly 30,000 jobs axed and the closure of over 600 jobcentres and benefits offices across Britain, the union warned that the situation could get worse and echoed Stirling Cab’s fears that up to 22,000 people in Scotland could be in need of emergency help.
Job cuts in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have already led to 21 million calls going unanswered, people having to travel unacceptable distances to get help back in to work, as well as waiting longer to access benefits.
Elsewhere following a report by the Chief Scientific officer on the control of Bovine TB, the union warned that the Government would be unable to act on his advice in using all the options available to contain the disease as it had axed the frontline staff responsible for tackling Bovine TB earlier this year.
The union criticised the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) for appearing to base its policy on the control of Bovine TB on cost cutting rather than science.
PCS members are currently voting on further national strike action across the civil service as part of the union’s campaign against job cuts, below inflation pay and privatisation.
The campaign has already seen two strongly supported national one-day strikes this year. The ballot closes on 31st October 2007 and the result is expected to be announced shortly after.
Commenting, PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka, said: “It is scandalous that people are having to rely on food vouchers because the system is failing them due to arbitrary job cuts and office closures. There is a genuine fear that the situation will only get worse as more job cuts follow and more offices close.
“Added to this you have the Government unable to act on the latest scientific advice regarding the spread of Bovine TB because it has axed frontline staff who control the spread of the disease.
“Job cuts across a number of areas in the name of efficiency are resulting in failing services and limiting the Government’s ability to respond to issues and events. The Government needs to recognise the damaging impact cuts are having by halting further job losses and addressing the union’s concerns on services, pay and privatisation.”
Meanwhile members of the Government’s new Unified Border Force – launched this summer by Gordon Brown as a major counter-terrorism initiative – are complaining they get so little training that the force is undermining rather than strengthening security.
Staff say they are being asked to perform key roles such as passenger profiling with less than three hours’ training.
Customs staff at Purfleet, on the Thames, who have been ordered to search vehicles – work previously done by immigrations officers – say checks have been halved because of lack of preparation.
The new force combines staff drawn from Revenue and Customs, Immigration and Nationality Directorate and UK Visas, the passport agency.
The workers are now supposed to perform each other’s roles with very little training.
Thursday 25 October 2007
PCS recognition at Electoral Commission
AFTER almost two years of talks, the Electoral Commission’s chief executive, Peter Wardle, has signed a joint agreement with PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka giving the union full representational and negotiating rights.
Staff at the commission, which was founded in 2000, promote integrity and public confidence in the democratic process. They regulate party and election finance and set standards for well-run elections.
As the agreement was being signed off, the call went out for nominations from members for candidates to stand for branch positions. The outcome of these elections will be announced at the inaugural annual meeting on 8th November.
Welcoming the commission on board, Mark noted that these elections would probably be the most efficient and well run in the union’s history. He also thanked members for their perseverance and determination to win recognition.
PCS London and South East organiser Keith Johnston said: “This is an exciting day for staff in the commission. We have an enthusiastic and committed group of members here who are eager to get on with organising and representing their colleagues.
“Recognition allows them to now access full training with PCS and become part of the wider national union.”
Staff at the commission, which was founded in 2000, promote integrity and public confidence in the democratic process. They regulate party and election finance and set standards for well-run elections.
As the agreement was being signed off, the call went out for nominations from members for candidates to stand for branch positions. The outcome of these elections will be announced at the inaugural annual meeting on 8th November.
Welcoming the commission on board, Mark noted that these elections would probably be the most efficient and well run in the union’s history. He also thanked members for their perseverance and determination to win recognition.
PCS London and South East organiser Keith Johnston said: “This is an exciting day for staff in the commission. We have an enthusiastic and committed group of members here who are eager to get on with organising and representing their colleagues.
“Recognition allows them to now access full training with PCS and become part of the wider national union.”
Thursday 11 October 2007
Support the postal workers
OVER A 100,000 Royal Mail workers walked out for 48 hours last week bringing postal deliveries to a standstill and they did so again this week, demonstrating that the membership was right behind their union’s refusal to accept management’s attempt to link their miserable pay offer to a “flexibility” agreement that will reduce postal workers’ average earnings and considerably devalue their pension scheme. The rock-solid response of the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) membership has shocked management, which had spread scare stories that a strike would finish the union and the industry.
Despite management claims what postal workers make is still £80 a week below the national average. The current 6.9 per cent pay offer over two years is tied to “flexibility” changes without any guarantee of recompense or job security. The current pension scheme will close, reducing existing benefits and the retirement age will be raised from 60 to 65. Senior management is refusing to seriously negotiate with the CWU to settle the dispute. Now they’re churning out the “greedy workers” lie to turn the massive public sympathy for the strikers to justify management’s refusal to meet the CWU’s legitimate demands.
Down the years post workers have won concessions to cover the unsocial hours, shifts and public holiday work that they have to do to deliver the mail. Now it’s called “Spanish” or “restrictive” practices. When the head of Royal Mail gets a million a year – far more than even the Prime Minister gets – it’s called “competitiveness” and “good value”.
Gordon Brown bleats that the strike was disrupting people’s lives. “When we, the Government, are investing a huge amount of money in the postal services, it is not something that we can either condone or we can stand idly by and say it is an acceptable form of behaviour,” he says, adding: “I want these people back to work.”
Well, all he has to do is tell Royal Mail management to make a realistic response to the CWU’s demands. In the meantime the striking workers should receive all the trade union solidarity and public support they need to guarantee victory.
Despite management claims what postal workers make is still £80 a week below the national average. The current 6.9 per cent pay offer over two years is tied to “flexibility” changes without any guarantee of recompense or job security. The current pension scheme will close, reducing existing benefits and the retirement age will be raised from 60 to 65. Senior management is refusing to seriously negotiate with the CWU to settle the dispute. Now they’re churning out the “greedy workers” lie to turn the massive public sympathy for the strikers to justify management’s refusal to meet the CWU’s legitimate demands.
Down the years post workers have won concessions to cover the unsocial hours, shifts and public holiday work that they have to do to deliver the mail. Now it’s called “Spanish” or “restrictive” practices. When the head of Royal Mail gets a million a year – far more than even the Prime Minister gets – it’s called “competitiveness” and “good value”.
Gordon Brown bleats that the strike was disrupting people’s lives. “When we, the Government, are investing a huge amount of money in the postal services, it is not something that we can either condone or we can stand idly by and say it is an acceptable form of behaviour,” he says, adding: “I want these people back to work.”
Well, all he has to do is tell Royal Mail management to make a realistic response to the CWU’s demands. In the meantime the striking workers should receive all the trade union solidarity and public support they need to guarantee victory.
Scottish civil service face cuts
THE SCOTTISH government last week announced plans to cut jobs from 4,200 to about 3,600 – the lowest level since devolution, through a recruitment freeze.
The proposals came amid speculation that the Scottish Government’s block grant from London would be cut over the next three years.
The Public and Commercial Services Union said it was not surprised by the job cut plan, but promised to hold ministers to their promise of no compulsory redundancies.
The proposals came amid speculation that the Scottish Government’s block grant from London would be cut over the next three years.
The Public and Commercial Services Union said it was not surprised by the job cut plan, but promised to hold ministers to their promise of no compulsory redundancies.
Post workers set for more strikes
THOUSANDS of post workers employed by the Royal Mail have staged two 48-hour strikes within the last week and are set for further strikes throughout next week (starting 15th October) in their fight to defend pensions and working conditions. The strike was provoked by a below-inflation pay offer of 2.5 per cent and drastic changes to working conditions that, the union says, will lead to the loss of 40,000 jobs and a worsening postal service.
Workers will not know from day to day what job they will be expected to do when they arrive for work, nor what their hours will be from one day to another. The management calls this “flexible working”.
Furthermore cuts to the pension scheme mean that workers will lose up to £15,000 when they retire and the retirement age will rise from 60 to 65.
The first strike ran from midday on Thursday to midday on Saturday and the second began on Monday at midday and ran until the same time on Wednesday.
Talks at the weekend, hosted by the TUC, broke down. The CWU negotiators reported that real progress had been made in many areas, but there was agreement in none. The management offer included a pay increase of 6.9 per cent over two years but this is subject to linking unacceptable strings, including a reduction in pensions benefits.
Royal Mail’s proposals also included flexibility proposals that mean, among other things, that postal workers will not know what job they are doing from one day to the next. The CWU postal executive met to consider the offer and decided to continue with the strikes as planned.
Meanwhile the Royal Mail continues to implement change without agreement and the union has already announced more strikes. The CWU reports that support among its 130,000 members has been overwhelming.
CWU general secretary Billy Hayes said: “Royal Mail’s claims regarding the numbers of people at work are a poor attempt to detract from the truth that postal workers are rejecting their proposals in overwhelming numbers. They should stop using their efforts to spin and start putting them into reaching an agreement.”
He also commented on the failure of Royal Mail top bosses to attend the talks. “We are very disappointed that Allan Leighton and Adam Crozier are nowhere to be seen when the future of British postal services are at stake,” he said.
“The Government has shown complete disinterest in the fate of this dispute. If this was Northern Rock they would be pouring money in. This is a company that they own and they seem to have no interest whatsoever.”
On Monday the union held a mass rally in Trafalgar Square – and many members stayed on to support a major Stop the War rally immediately afterwards.
After last Monday’s strike, the CWU plans to stage a programme of rolling strikes each Monday until the dispute is resolved. Each CWU member has been asked to walk-out from the start of their shift.
The union’s deputy general secretary, Dave Ward, said the strikes were “a proportionate response to an employer that is completely out of control,” after five weeks of negotiations.
PCS sent a message of support from general secretary Mark Serwotka: “Dear Billy, I am writing to offer the full support and solidarity of PCS members for the strike by your members in Royal Mail starting today.
“In common with all public servants, your members work hard to deliver a vital public service. Attempts to unilaterally impose changes to working practices and low pay increases are making the delivery of those services more difficult. Vital public services are being placed at risk.
“In common with your members PCS members are also fighting to protect their living standards and working conditions. Like you we are determined that those who work hard to serve the public are paid a fair wage.
“Best wishes and good luck.”
Workers will not know from day to day what job they will be expected to do when they arrive for work, nor what their hours will be from one day to another. The management calls this “flexible working”.
Furthermore cuts to the pension scheme mean that workers will lose up to £15,000 when they retire and the retirement age will rise from 60 to 65.
The first strike ran from midday on Thursday to midday on Saturday and the second began on Monday at midday and ran until the same time on Wednesday.
Talks at the weekend, hosted by the TUC, broke down. The CWU negotiators reported that real progress had been made in many areas, but there was agreement in none. The management offer included a pay increase of 6.9 per cent over two years but this is subject to linking unacceptable strings, including a reduction in pensions benefits.
Royal Mail’s proposals also included flexibility proposals that mean, among other things, that postal workers will not know what job they are doing from one day to the next. The CWU postal executive met to consider the offer and decided to continue with the strikes as planned.
Meanwhile the Royal Mail continues to implement change without agreement and the union has already announced more strikes. The CWU reports that support among its 130,000 members has been overwhelming.
CWU general secretary Billy Hayes said: “Royal Mail’s claims regarding the numbers of people at work are a poor attempt to detract from the truth that postal workers are rejecting their proposals in overwhelming numbers. They should stop using their efforts to spin and start putting them into reaching an agreement.”
He also commented on the failure of Royal Mail top bosses to attend the talks. “We are very disappointed that Allan Leighton and Adam Crozier are nowhere to be seen when the future of British postal services are at stake,” he said.
“The Government has shown complete disinterest in the fate of this dispute. If this was Northern Rock they would be pouring money in. This is a company that they own and they seem to have no interest whatsoever.”
On Monday the union held a mass rally in Trafalgar Square – and many members stayed on to support a major Stop the War rally immediately afterwards.
After last Monday’s strike, the CWU plans to stage a programme of rolling strikes each Monday until the dispute is resolved. Each CWU member has been asked to walk-out from the start of their shift.
The union’s deputy general secretary, Dave Ward, said the strikes were “a proportionate response to an employer that is completely out of control,” after five weeks of negotiations.
PCS sent a message of support from general secretary Mark Serwotka: “Dear Billy, I am writing to offer the full support and solidarity of PCS members for the strike by your members in Royal Mail starting today.
“In common with all public servants, your members work hard to deliver a vital public service. Attempts to unilaterally impose changes to working practices and low pay increases are making the delivery of those services more difficult. Vital public services are being placed at risk.
“In common with your members PCS members are also fighting to protect their living standards and working conditions. Like you we are determined that those who work hard to serve the public are paid a fair wage.
“Best wishes and good luck.”
Thursday 4 October 2007
Ballot for strike action
MEMBERS of the PCS civil service union working across the civil and public service last week began voting in a ballot for further national civil service strike action in an escalation of the union’s campaign against job cuts, below inflation pay and privatisation.
The ballot involving 270,000 members working in over 200 different Government departments, agencies and non departmental public bodies follows two strongly supported one-day national civil service strikes this year.
The decision to escalate the campaign comes against a backdrop of compulsory redundancies and deteriorating services due to job cuts in key areas such as tax and getting people back into work, as well as worsening pay conditions as the Government seeks to cut pay in real terms.
A quarter of the civil service earn £16,000 or less and just under half earn less than Britain’s average salary. The ballot also comes two days after compulsory redundancies were announced in the Wildlife Administration Unit of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The result of the ballot is expected to be announced on Tuesday 23rd October 2007. PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka commented: “People delivering the essential services that we all rely on have grown increasingly angry as the services they deliver suffer due to job cuts and office closures. This anger has only been fuelled by the Government’s desire to cut wages in real terms with below inflation pay offers. This ballot marks an escalation in the campaign which could lead to further strike action hitting courts, tax offices, jobcentres and prisons.
“PCS has and continues to stand ready to negotiate with civil service management at any time. The Government and civil service management need to recognise that they can’t continue to bury their head in the sand and start negotiating an agreement with the union to resolve the dispute.”
The ballot involving 270,000 members working in over 200 different Government departments, agencies and non departmental public bodies follows two strongly supported one-day national civil service strikes this year.
The decision to escalate the campaign comes against a backdrop of compulsory redundancies and deteriorating services due to job cuts in key areas such as tax and getting people back into work, as well as worsening pay conditions as the Government seeks to cut pay in real terms.
A quarter of the civil service earn £16,000 or less and just under half earn less than Britain’s average salary. The ballot also comes two days after compulsory redundancies were announced in the Wildlife Administration Unit of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The result of the ballot is expected to be announced on Tuesday 23rd October 2007. PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka commented: “People delivering the essential services that we all rely on have grown increasingly angry as the services they deliver suffer due to job cuts and office closures. This anger has only been fuelled by the Government’s desire to cut wages in real terms with below inflation pay offers. This ballot marks an escalation in the campaign which could lead to further strike action hitting courts, tax offices, jobcentres and prisons.
“PCS has and continues to stand ready to negotiate with civil service management at any time. The Government and civil service management need to recognise that they can’t continue to bury their head in the sand and start negotiating an agreement with the union to resolve the dispute.”
Thursday 13 September 2007
PCS reject offer
MEMBERS of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) working for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have overwhelmingly rejected a below inflation pay offer which would see approximately 40 per cent of staff receive nought per cent pay increase next year.
Seventy per cent of those voting rejected the three year pay deal which sees cost of living increases for longer serving staff members of two per cent this year, nought per cent next year and one per cent in the final year.
Commenting, Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: “The rejection of this pay offer sends a clear signal that the people who have delivered the lowest unemployment in a generation, pension credits and the New Deal aren’t prepared to accept below inflation pay and pay cuts in real terms.
“With a quarter of the civil service earning less than £16,000, the Government needs to wake up and recognise that hardworking civil and public servants won’t stand for being used as an anti-inflationary tool.”
Seventy per cent of those voting rejected the three year pay deal which sees cost of living increases for longer serving staff members of two per cent this year, nought per cent next year and one per cent in the final year.
Commenting, Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: “The rejection of this pay offer sends a clear signal that the people who have delivered the lowest unemployment in a generation, pension credits and the New Deal aren’t prepared to accept below inflation pay and pay cuts in real terms.
“With a quarter of the civil service earning less than £16,000, the Government needs to wake up and recognise that hardworking civil and public servants won’t stand for being used as an anti-inflationary tool.”
Thursday 23 August 2007
Long hours for civil servants
RESEARCH published last week shows that excessive workloads are forcing over half of full time civil servants to work over and above their contracted hours, with 45.8 per cent surveyed working between 40 and 48 hours and one in 20 breaking the working time regulations by working over 49 hours per week.
Over 1,700 civil servants took part in the survey conducted by the Centre for Industrial Relations at Keele University in conjunction with Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS).
The 24/7 report supports the union’s claim that workloads are increasing as the Government ploughs ahead with 84,000 civil and public service job cuts which is damaging the delivery of public services. Other key findings include:
• Half of all those working additional hours do so in order to keep control of their excessive workloads. This compares to a third in the private sector delivering civil service contracts.
• Nearly 40 per cent had attended work when ill to keep up with workloads.
• More than half are experiencing difficulties balancing work and family/private life.
• Staff working in the private sector delivering civil service contracts are considerably less likely to have work-life balance polices available in their workplace.
• One sixth had cut their holidays short and one third weren’t able to take their full holiday allowance.
The union is currently in the process of consulting with its 280,000 civil and public service members on what forms future industrial action could take as it looks to escalate the national civil service wide dispute. The dispute with the Government and civil service management has already seen two one-day civil service wide strikes this year, involving up to 200,000 civil and public servants.
The survey, conducted by researchers at the Centre for Industrial Relations, Keele University, was a national internet based survey.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “This report clearly illustrates that the government’s drive to slash jobs is leading to increasing workloads and embedding a long-hours culture in civil and public services.
“With fewer people to do the same amount work, staff are under increasing pressure leading to corners being cut, which in turn damages the quality of service delivery.
“It smacks of double standards, with the Government promoting work-life balance policies, when over half those surveyed experienced difficulty in balancing their work and family/private life.
“Excessive workloads resulting from job cuts and pay cuts in real terms are all hitting the morale of dedicated staff committed to delivering first rate service. “The Government as a responsible employer needs to wake up to the fact that decent public services need enough people with enough resources to deliver them.”
Over 1,700 civil servants took part in the survey conducted by the Centre for Industrial Relations at Keele University in conjunction with Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS).
The 24/7 report supports the union’s claim that workloads are increasing as the Government ploughs ahead with 84,000 civil and public service job cuts which is damaging the delivery of public services. Other key findings include:
• Half of all those working additional hours do so in order to keep control of their excessive workloads. This compares to a third in the private sector delivering civil service contracts.
• Nearly 40 per cent had attended work when ill to keep up with workloads.
• More than half are experiencing difficulties balancing work and family/private life.
• Staff working in the private sector delivering civil service contracts are considerably less likely to have work-life balance polices available in their workplace.
• One sixth had cut their holidays short and one third weren’t able to take their full holiday allowance.
The union is currently in the process of consulting with its 280,000 civil and public service members on what forms future industrial action could take as it looks to escalate the national civil service wide dispute. The dispute with the Government and civil service management has already seen two one-day civil service wide strikes this year, involving up to 200,000 civil and public servants.
The survey, conducted by researchers at the Centre for Industrial Relations, Keele University, was a national internet based survey.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “This report clearly illustrates that the government’s drive to slash jobs is leading to increasing workloads and embedding a long-hours culture in civil and public services.
“With fewer people to do the same amount work, staff are under increasing pressure leading to corners being cut, which in turn damages the quality of service delivery.
“It smacks of double standards, with the Government promoting work-life balance policies, when over half those surveyed experienced difficulty in balancing their work and family/private life.
“Excessive workloads resulting from job cuts and pay cuts in real terms are all hitting the morale of dedicated staff committed to delivering first rate service. “The Government as a responsible employer needs to wake up to the fact that decent public services need enough people with enough resources to deliver them.”
Thursday 21 June 2007
PCS and MPs attach consultant costs
THE HOUSE of Commons Public Accounts Committee and PCS last week attacked the “sheer profligacy” of the Government’s annual spending on consultants.
The government could save £500 million a year by improving control on the use of consultancies, the Commons Public Accounts Committee said.
Public sector spending on business consultants has risen by a third in three years to hit £2.8 billion in 2005-06, largely due to increases in their use by the National Health Service.
Central government accounts for £1.8 billion of that total with more than half spent on IT and project management skills.
But the committee said departments and the Government’s procurement agency, the Office of Government Commerce, did not know how much they were spending on consultancy and so were unable to tell if the benefits justified the cost.
“It is impossible to believe that the public are receiving anything like full value for money from this expenditure,” said the committee’s chair, Edward Leigh. “In fact, a good proportion of it looks like sheer profligacy.”
PCS also accused the Government of giving management consultants a licence to print money at the taxpayer’s expense, as it responded to the committee’s report.
The union branded the £1.8 billion spent last year by central government on consultants as obscenely wasteful and supported the report’s view that the public weren’t receiving full value for money.
As the government continue to cut over 100,000 civil and public service jobs, the union warned of a false economy where consultants were increasingly being employed to plug gaps in the workforce and doing the same work as civil servants, often at up to ten times the cost.
The union was also shocked to learn consultants are being paid simply on the basis of the amount of time worked and not on what work has been achieved.
Commenting, PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “These are obscene sums of money being given to management consultants with little thought of value for money. Rather than investing in its own workforce, the Government have effectively given management consultants a licence to print money at the taxpayer’s expense.
“You have the ludicrous situation of departments such as Revenue and Customs seeking to save £105 million in the last year by cutting staff, but spending £106 million on management consultants who often do the same work as civil servants.
“The Government needs to recognise the skills and knowledge it has in house and start cutting management consultants, not hardworking experienced civil servants.”
The government could save £500 million a year by improving control on the use of consultancies, the Commons Public Accounts Committee said.
Public sector spending on business consultants has risen by a third in three years to hit £2.8 billion in 2005-06, largely due to increases in their use by the National Health Service.
Central government accounts for £1.8 billion of that total with more than half spent on IT and project management skills.
But the committee said departments and the Government’s procurement agency, the Office of Government Commerce, did not know how much they were spending on consultancy and so were unable to tell if the benefits justified the cost.
“It is impossible to believe that the public are receiving anything like full value for money from this expenditure,” said the committee’s chair, Edward Leigh. “In fact, a good proportion of it looks like sheer profligacy.”
PCS also accused the Government of giving management consultants a licence to print money at the taxpayer’s expense, as it responded to the committee’s report.
The union branded the £1.8 billion spent last year by central government on consultants as obscenely wasteful and supported the report’s view that the public weren’t receiving full value for money.
As the government continue to cut over 100,000 civil and public service jobs, the union warned of a false economy where consultants were increasingly being employed to plug gaps in the workforce and doing the same work as civil servants, often at up to ten times the cost.
The union was also shocked to learn consultants are being paid simply on the basis of the amount of time worked and not on what work has been achieved.
Commenting, PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “These are obscene sums of money being given to management consultants with little thought of value for money. Rather than investing in its own workforce, the Government have effectively given management consultants a licence to print money at the taxpayer’s expense.
“You have the ludicrous situation of departments such as Revenue and Customs seeking to save £105 million in the last year by cutting staff, but spending £106 million on management consultants who often do the same work as civil servants.
“The Government needs to recognise the skills and knowledge it has in house and start cutting management consultants, not hardworking experienced civil servants.”
Friday 15 June 2007
PCS looks to the future
by an observer
THE PUBLIC and Commercial Services Union is the biggest civil service workers’ union in the country and one that has faced the brunt of the Government’s onslaught of cuts and privatisations. Not surprisingly this dominated the debate at annual conference in May.
Over 1,200 delegates took part in the annual delegate conference in Brighton following the elections which once again returned the centre-left "Democratic Alliance" bloc to power. The leadership has tried to establish meaningful negotiations with the Government, the major employer of PCS’s 320,000 members, through national protest strikes including two this year, the last this May Day. This has been well-supported at grass-roots level and it is reflected in the continuing strength of the union’s organisation.
PCS is the fastest growing union in Britain with 72 per cent of eligible civil servants in its ranks compared to 59 per cent in the public sector as a whole. Most of them are drawn from the administrative, secretarial and executive grades.
Most are low paid compared to the private sector and all are facing increased work-loads and stress. A quarter of them earn less than £15,400 and the two per cent public sector pay cap is essentially a pay cut in real terms. Past Tory and Labour governments have broken up the civil service into 200 separate agencies, each with its own pay bargaining arrangements. PCS has been fighting for national pay coherence since its foundation in 1998, but with little success and the Blair government is moving even further in this direction through the farming out of work to the charity sector. Few expect any change from Gordon Brown, who as Chancellor was the architect of the programme to cut 100,000 civil service jobs mostly from the giant Department of Work and Pensions.
PCS is not affiliated to the Labour Party but the chair of its parliamentary group is John McDonnell MP, the leader of the Labour Representation Committee that launched its own "Public Services not Private Profit" campaign last year. John addressed conference and received two standing ovations for all the work he had done for the union in publicizing their case in defence of jobs and services.
The union was originally dominated by right wing factions who had dominated the two civil services unions that merged in 1998 to form PCS. But the left won sweeping victories in 2003 as it has continued to do every year since then. The Democratic Alliance is a bloc dominated by members of the old "Militant Tendency" now in the Socialist Party and its Scottish cousins and consisting of a number of left social-democratic Trotskyist factions including the Socialist Workers’ Party along with revisionists and a centrist faction that broke with the right wing in 1998.
Its charismatic general secretary, Mark Serwotka, a former Trotskyist who now favours George Galloway’s Respect Party but has not joined it, has since his first election in 2002 spear-headed the drive to restore the democratic traditions of the old Civil and Public Services Association (CPSA) in PCS. Annual conference has been restored. The reactionary heart of the new rule book was torn out and democratic controls restored.
This undoubtedly provided the basis for another electoral victory for the Alliance. The major right-wing bloc only managed to keep their one seat on the National Executive despite a vigorous anti-left campaigning while the other, the rump of the old faction that once dominated CPSA, achieved nothing and is clearly a spent force. An attempt to build an alternative left focus around a platform led by a number of small Trotskyist groups that operate within and on the fringe of the Labour Party who broke with the Alliance late last year failed to split the left vote and their sitting EC members, who had originally been elected on the Democratic Alliance slate, were all defeated this year. But the low turn-out – barely a tenth of those who came out on strike – is a warning against complacency.
The main right wing faction is called "4themembers" but it has little to offer the membership apart from the usual "red scare" and the suggestion that the Government would respond reasonably to the union if it were led by the likes of them. The breakaway "Independent Left" focused on their long- standing demand for prolonged selective local strikes maintained by the union’s generous strike pay. The first argument, essentially that of appeasement and class-collaboration, fell because there’s no evidence whatsoever that this Government is prepared to cosy up to any union, even those which are affiliates of the Labour Party, which PCS is not. The second would plainly be a recipe for bankruptcy given the Government’s determination to sit out long local strikes in the civil service.
Of course the only way to really put decisive pressure on the Government would be an all-out indefinite strike but everyone recognises – including the "Independent Left" – that the members are simply not prepared to endure the sort of sacrifice and hardship that this would entail with no guarantee of victory at the end. So the only realistic alternative is that which the leadership has followed throughout the campaign against the cuts: national one or two day stoppages throughout the year designed to put pressure on the employer. It’s essentially a campaign of attrition and while it may have slowed down the cuts it has not brought them to a halt. Some 60,000 jobs have already gone and the cut-backs and closures are continuing. PCS is therefore seeking to widen the front by working with organised labour in the rest of the public sector which is also under the cuts axe and its natural partner is Unison, the giant public services union with over 1.3 million members in the health service, local government, education and the gas, electricity and water utilities.
Unison has responded positively and its general secretary Dave Prentis sent a letter of solidarity to PCS conference calling for trade unions to stand together to fight the problems facing public services. Prentis said the Government’s "relentless drive to privatise" and the imposition of a two per cent pay limit were the two issues that had to be challenged by both unions. He said, "Unions cannot fight these battles alone and the PCS and Unison should be working together to maximise our impact in responding to the attacks on us".
The Unison leader also proposed meeting the PCS leadership to discuss how the two unions could coordinate campaigns against privatisation and work together to promote public services; liaise on pay developments so any industrial action could be coordinated and share information on developments in public services, the impact on members and in developing a response. His letter was distributed to all conference delegates who were urged to take it back to their members and set up meetings with Unison activists to plan joint actions.
THE PUBLIC and Commercial Services Union is the biggest civil service workers’ union in the country and one that has faced the brunt of the Government’s onslaught of cuts and privatisations. Not surprisingly this dominated the debate at annual conference in May.
Over 1,200 delegates took part in the annual delegate conference in Brighton following the elections which once again returned the centre-left "Democratic Alliance" bloc to power. The leadership has tried to establish meaningful negotiations with the Government, the major employer of PCS’s 320,000 members, through national protest strikes including two this year, the last this May Day. This has been well-supported at grass-roots level and it is reflected in the continuing strength of the union’s organisation.
PCS is the fastest growing union in Britain with 72 per cent of eligible civil servants in its ranks compared to 59 per cent in the public sector as a whole. Most of them are drawn from the administrative, secretarial and executive grades.
Most are low paid compared to the private sector and all are facing increased work-loads and stress. A quarter of them earn less than £15,400 and the two per cent public sector pay cap is essentially a pay cut in real terms. Past Tory and Labour governments have broken up the civil service into 200 separate agencies, each with its own pay bargaining arrangements. PCS has been fighting for national pay coherence since its foundation in 1998, but with little success and the Blair government is moving even further in this direction through the farming out of work to the charity sector. Few expect any change from Gordon Brown, who as Chancellor was the architect of the programme to cut 100,000 civil service jobs mostly from the giant Department of Work and Pensions.
PCS is not affiliated to the Labour Party but the chair of its parliamentary group is John McDonnell MP, the leader of the Labour Representation Committee that launched its own "Public Services not Private Profit" campaign last year. John addressed conference and received two standing ovations for all the work he had done for the union in publicizing their case in defence of jobs and services.
The union was originally dominated by right wing factions who had dominated the two civil services unions that merged in 1998 to form PCS. But the left won sweeping victories in 2003 as it has continued to do every year since then. The Democratic Alliance is a bloc dominated by members of the old "Militant Tendency" now in the Socialist Party and its Scottish cousins and consisting of a number of left social-democratic Trotskyist factions including the Socialist Workers’ Party along with revisionists and a centrist faction that broke with the right wing in 1998.
Its charismatic general secretary, Mark Serwotka, a former Trotskyist who now favours George Galloway’s Respect Party but has not joined it, has since his first election in 2002 spear-headed the drive to restore the democratic traditions of the old Civil and Public Services Association (CPSA) in PCS. Annual conference has been restored. The reactionary heart of the new rule book was torn out and democratic controls restored.
This undoubtedly provided the basis for another electoral victory for the Alliance. The major right-wing bloc only managed to keep their one seat on the National Executive despite a vigorous anti-left campaigning while the other, the rump of the old faction that once dominated CPSA, achieved nothing and is clearly a spent force. An attempt to build an alternative left focus around a platform led by a number of small Trotskyist groups that operate within and on the fringe of the Labour Party who broke with the Alliance late last year failed to split the left vote and their sitting EC members, who had originally been elected on the Democratic Alliance slate, were all defeated this year. But the low turn-out – barely a tenth of those who came out on strike – is a warning against complacency.
The main right wing faction is called "4themembers" but it has little to offer the membership apart from the usual "red scare" and the suggestion that the Government would respond reasonably to the union if it were led by the likes of them. The breakaway "Independent Left" focused on their long- standing demand for prolonged selective local strikes maintained by the union’s generous strike pay. The first argument, essentially that of appeasement and class-collaboration, fell because there’s no evidence whatsoever that this Government is prepared to cosy up to any union, even those which are affiliates of the Labour Party, which PCS is not. The second would plainly be a recipe for bankruptcy given the Government’s determination to sit out long local strikes in the civil service.
Of course the only way to really put decisive pressure on the Government would be an all-out indefinite strike but everyone recognises – including the "Independent Left" – that the members are simply not prepared to endure the sort of sacrifice and hardship that this would entail with no guarantee of victory at the end. So the only realistic alternative is that which the leadership has followed throughout the campaign against the cuts: national one or two day stoppages throughout the year designed to put pressure on the employer. It’s essentially a campaign of attrition and while it may have slowed down the cuts it has not brought them to a halt. Some 60,000 jobs have already gone and the cut-backs and closures are continuing. PCS is therefore seeking to widen the front by working with organised labour in the rest of the public sector which is also under the cuts axe and its natural partner is Unison, the giant public services union with over 1.3 million members in the health service, local government, education and the gas, electricity and water utilities.
Unison has responded positively and its general secretary Dave Prentis sent a letter of solidarity to PCS conference calling for trade unions to stand together to fight the problems facing public services. Prentis said the Government’s "relentless drive to privatise" and the imposition of a two per cent pay limit were the two issues that had to be challenged by both unions. He said, "Unions cannot fight these battles alone and the PCS and Unison should be working together to maximise our impact in responding to the attacks on us".
The Unison leader also proposed meeting the PCS leadership to discuss how the two unions could coordinate campaigns against privatisation and work together to promote public services; liaise on pay developments so any industrial action could be coordinated and share information on developments in public services, the impact on members and in developing a response. His letter was distributed to all conference delegates who were urged to take it back to their members and set up meetings with Unison activists to plan joint actions.
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