26 January 2007
Work across 200 public bodies could be affected by next week's strike by civil servants, but ministers are standing firm over the Whitehall reform agenda that has fuelled staff anger.
A walk-out across government departments, agencies and non-departmental public bodies, including museums and galleries, is likely to significantly reduce public sector capacity on January 31, after a leading trade union this week voted for strikes over pay, job cuts and further privatisation plans. But Cabinet Office ministers and officials have been quick to condemn the industrial action planned by the Public and Commercial Services union, which represents around 280,000 public servants.
The PCS voted on January 23 in favour of discontinuous strike action beginning with the walk-out next week. A two-week overtime “ban” will then be implemented, followed by what the union described as 'regular and innovative' industrial action in the run-up to May's local government elections. The union's leaders claim that the job cuts at organisations such as the Department for Work and Pensions and Revenue and Customs offices have also had an adverse effect on the quality of public services.
But Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden, who chairs the government-unions Public Services Forum, said there 'is no need for strike action' and urged the PCS to follow the 'established industrial relations process to discuss' its concerns.
Public Finance understands that PCS leaders, and other trade unionists, will meet Chancellor Gordon Brown on January 29, but the gathering will discuss broader civil service issues and not the strike.
Privately, Cabinet Office sources questioned the efficacy of the PCS's industrial action. They pointed out that 62% of the union's members did not vote in the ballot. Of those that did vote, more favoured industrial action short of a strike (77%) than backed the walk-out next week (62%).
But PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said that the staff likely to walk-out next week did not take the decision lightly.
'The people that have said that they will go on strike to defend the services we all take for granted aren't high-flying mandarins or faceless bureaucrats, but hard working and often low paid public servants delivering everything from passports, tax and benefits to supporting our armed forces,' he said. Asked what would ensure that the PCS withdrew its industrial action, Serwotka said that ministers must provide 'no compulsory redundancy' commitment across government and assurances that they would address real-terms cuts in staff wages amid escalating inflation.
The government is committed to achieving a 104,000 reduction in public sector posts by 2008 and has currently slashed around half of that total. Meanwhile, Chancellor Gordon Brown has capped Whitehall pay increases at 2% despite a basic rate of inflation of 3%.
The strike next week has been timed to coincide with the national deadline for tax self-assessment submissions to the Revenue and Customs department, which will be among the organisations most disrupted by walk-outs.
However, the R&C told PF that although senior officials expect 'some disruption' at offices next week, there was no need to extend the deadline for tax returns. Any forms that cannot be submitted on the deadline day would be logged in early February providing that customers could prove that they genuinely could not submit their information on time, a spokeswoman confirmed.
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