06 August 2004
Opposition to the Treasury's proposed cull of civil service staff will intensify at the Trades Union Congress's annual conference in Brighton next month, motions to the event indicate.
A provisional timetable for events in Sussex highlights union anger at plans to slash 104,000 Whitehall and local government jobs as part of the government's £21.5bn savings programme for the next Spending Review period.
Several motions opposing the cuts are expected to receive the backing of delegates when the TUC debates the public services on September 14.
The warning from the usually moderate TUC general council, led by general secretary Brendan Barber, is also strongly worded. Separate from the 93 provisional motions, it expresses 'deep concern' at the proposed cuts 'and the impact these will have on the quality of and access to public services'.
It says 'such losses are neither necessary nor acceptable'. TUC leaders also reject the government's 'artificial distinction between frontline and back-office functions in the public sector'.
Critics claim it will be impossible for current services to be maintained, despite plans to slash back-office bureaucracy through improved IT use.
One motion from Whitehall's largest union, the Public and Commercial Services union, proposes strike action against the cull. But the moderate FDA union, representing senior Whitehall managers, calls merely for close negotiation with ministers over job losses and relocations. Other criticisms come from the Prospect union and magistrate court staff.
The outcome of the vote will form the organisation's policy for the following year – one that TUC representatives will take to the Cabinet Office's Public Services Forum meetings.
Other motions for Brighton indicate that the uneasy truce between the government and the unions, which emerged from last month's National Policy Forum, will become strained in the run-up to Labour's party conference.
In its motions, public sector union Unison welcomes the 'unprecedented investment in public services' but attacks the continued privatisation of services and the 'choice agenda'.
Highly critical motions on equal pay, employment rights and pensions are also included. But ministers appear unmoved by the potential for conflict. Foreign Office minister Denis McShane said the criticisms were all 'part of the democratic process'.
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