05 May 2006
Civil servants this week threatened to bring every Whitehall department to a standstill as opposition to the government's efficiency programme and job cuts intensified.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, told Public Finance that he could lead 'widespread and regular' walkouts at every major Whitehall organisation.
He demanded a guarantee that the government would not pursue its Whitehall 80,000 job cuts target through compulsory redundancies.
He spoke to PF during a 48-hour strike at the Department for Work and Pensions, which closed benefit offices and jobcentres on May 2 and 3. However, future industrial action could also involve the growing number of call centres delivering public services, which are often managed by private sector contractors.
The strike at the DWP, Serwotka said, was partly caused by the department's withdrawal of an informal agreement not to pursue its 30,000 job cuts target through compulsory redundancies. The DWP this week maintained that no agreement had existed since early 2005.
Serwotka accused senior DWP officials, including human resources director Kevin White, of withdrawing the agreement after the Treasury announced a new round of efficiency targets from 2008.
The DWP must find £1bn in savings annually, and make its job cuts, by 2008 as part of the Whitehall-wide 'Gershon' review. But Chancellor Gordon Brown announced last month that the department must cut a further 2.5% from its operating budget in each year of the next Spending Review cycle (2007/08 to 2010/11).
The PCS estimated that up to 70,000 DWP staff participated in this week's strike – the second this year. But the DWP claimed that just 40 of its 1,000 Jobcentre Plus offices were forced to close.
A DWP spokeswoman said that the department 'had no plans' to offer assurances over compulsory redundancies but reiterated that none had been imposed to date.
'If we are going to deliver the highest quality of service to our customers, it is vital we continue with our modernisation programme. It is therefore disappointing that the PCS seems opposed to much of the change,' she added.
However, the PCS's strikes are also fuelled by claims that the efficiency programme has hindered the DWP's ability to deliver jobseekers' services and benefit payments. Serwotka said: 'Unless we receive assurances from the government over jobs and services, our next step could be to reballot our members across all Whitehall departments to extend strike action beyond the DWP.'
Serwotka's warning about the spread of industrial action accompanied a leaked consultant's report on the future of the government's Driving Standards Agency, which indicates that office closures and cuts to fringe services will also continue across arm's-length organisations.
Paul Williams, PCS president at the DSA, said: 'Unfortunately, like other government departments, we have become embroiled in a race to cut jobs and reduce costs without any thought for the impact on public services.'
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