14 September 2007
Public servants could co-ordinate a fresh wave of strikes to coincide with the Queen's Speech, as opposition to Prime Minister Gordon Brown's 2% pay cap intensified following heated exchanges at the Trades Union Congress conference in Brighton this week.
Public Finance has discovered that the Public and Commercial Services trade union, which represents 300,000 public servants, is considering mass walkouts timed to cause maximum embarrassment to the government.
Other strike dates under discussion include the announcement of the Comprehensive Spending Review and Pre-Budget Report.
One senior trade union source said that the state opening of Parliament, which usually happens in November, is viewed as the ideal opportunity to publicise civil servants' concerns over Brown's below-inflation cap.
A spokesman for the PCS, which has already held two national strikes this year, told PF: 'We have not decided on a date for further industrial action, because we have not yet reballoted our members. But we want possible future [industrial] action to have maximum political effect, and there are a number of obvious dates where we feel we could achieve that.'
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka promised to ballot all public sector members over strikes, after staff at the Department for Work and Pensions this week rejected a multi-year pay offer that would have seen many receive no increase next year.
After hearing Brown reiterate his commitment to tight public sector settlements at the TUC in Brighton on September 10, Serwotka accused the prime minister of 'slamming the door in the face' of his own workforce, thousands of whom claim the in-work benefits that they deliver.
'The government could prevent further disputes. The demands of most public sector trade unions are actually quite modest – all we're asking is for rises to match inflation. Yet [Brown] has generated false fears about inflation,' he said:
The PCS wants other public sector unions to join in co-ordinated industrial action. Although discussions are embryonic, a PCS motion calling for co-ordinated public sector action gained unanimous backing from unions on September 11.
Around 15 unions – representing hundreds of thousands of staff – are considering industrial action over pay or public services reforms. They also include local government, health, education, prison, postal and transport staff.
The threat of widespread industrial strife is growing, despite Brown's attempt to face down his opponents during his speech on September 10.
He told delegates: 'Let me be straightforward with you: pay discipline is essential to prevent inflation, to maintain growth and create more jobs.'
But TUC general secretary Brendan Barber hit back, warning that the government would 'pay a heavy price' if it continued with strict pay limits. He said that 'where appropriate' he would
co-ordinate strike discussions through the Public Service Liaison Committee.
With inflation running at 3.6%, public servants view the 2% cap – imposed despite the advice of independent salary review bodies – as a wage cut. An independent report on public sector pay published on September 11 casts doubt on the prime minister's claim that rises above 2% would be inflationary.
The study by Incomes Data Services concludes that inflation is attributable to rising house, fuel and food prices and states that 'very little' of the recent increase is down to wage rises. The Council of Civil Service Unions sent copies of the report to Andy Burnham, chief secretary to the Treasury, and called for a government rethink.
But the Treasury disputed the findings.
Jonathan Baume, general secretary of the moderate FDA mandarins' union, said: 'Despite claims from the Treasury, the IDS report confirms that public sector salary increases do not drive up inflation or pose a threat to the economy. The government must reward public servants adequately.'
The Prison Officers Association, which recently staged illegal walkouts from prisons across England and Wales after the government insisted on staging this year's pay rise, immediately called on ministers to pay the full 2.5% recommended by the sector's pay review body.
POA chair Colin Moses told PF that his members could walk out again 'because we believe that fair pay is right', despite the threat of legal action following the government's High Court injunction after the last strike.
The cost of settling the POA's dispute by granting 2.5% rises would be just £3m, he said.
'That's all we're arguing about in order to settle pay talks for thousands of prison officers – it is a pittance compared to individual bonuses and salaries in the private sector.'
PFsep2007
