More Work Less Staff
Members will by now have heard the announcement that Manchester and Wembley DBC’s are to be closed and that the Manchester DLA work is to be moved to Warbreck.
Members will be rightly annoyed about the worrying times ahead for their colleagues in Manchester and Wembley DBCs. This bad news has been dressed up as good news by the employer who have indicated that this measure somehow secures jobs. We did not create the current economic downturn and banking crisis however 1,100 PDCS staff are to be moved lock stock and barrel to Job Centre Plus to help out with the impact of the economic crisis.
More work and more uncertainty
Not only does this announcement mean more uncertainty in terms of the members directly affected, it also means that there will be more work and less staff for the members remaining in the PDCS. This is not about job security, its all about measures to try and cope with ever increasing problems following the job cuts. The employer claims that Lean and other “enablers” will mean the staff remaining can do the same (or actually increasing!) amount of work. We are hugely sceptical of this. The reality of the cuts is already here with the unpopular LEAN job cuts already beginning to bite and plans to cut further staff from the DCPU staffing budget by next year.
This announcement simply means that there will be more work and less staff. Whilst staff may seemingly have more “secure” jobs at the moment, and who really can trust our employer on that point, those who are left in PDCS will see their workloads soar with all the consequent pressures on their individual working life, restrictions on access to flexi and leave, being forced to work to targets.
Meetings with MPs
The Branch has a meeting arranged with two of the local MPs for Friday 17th April 2009, and has meetings in the pipeline with the other local MPs. The issue of the pressures on the members will be raised at those meetings and you may wish to contact your MP if you are concerned about them.
Hopefully the above is useful. If you require any further details about these or any other points then please do not hesitate to contact the Branch Office.
