The following has been supplied by the TUC:
Watered-down government plans to slash the number of Britain's coastguard centres will still risk lives, unions have warned. Originally it was proposed that the number of centres be cut from 19 to eight, with only three remaining open 24 hours a day. But Transport secretary Philip Hammond announced in the Commons last week that 11 centres would remain and that they would all operate round-the-clock. The union PCS welcomed the climb-down from the government's original proposals, but said it will still oppose any new plans that would result in safety being compromised. It added the announcement was 'a partial victory for the communities who campaigned to save what is an essential public service that they hold dear. But it will be a bitter blow for those still under threat.' PCS expressed concern the government had made no commitment to prevent compulsory redundancies, and insisted the new plans must be subject to 'full and meaningful consultation involving staff, unions, the public and other interested parties.' PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: 'We pay tribute to our coastguard members and people in their communities who have fought so hard to defend what is a vital public service.' He added, however: 'This fight is not over. We are committed to ensuring we retain the local knowledge of our coastlines that is essential to saving lives, as we are determined to defend all public services and our communities from the government's cuts.' Bob Crow, general secretary of the transport union RMT, said: 'While the government have clearly been forced by public and union pressure to make significant changes to their original proposals we still remain concerned that the revised plans may leave gaps in the service and we will be seeking further assurances that there will be no impact on the safety of our members out on the high seas.'
29.7.11
Legal changes will hurt victims
The following has been supplied by the TUC:
A government shake-up of the legal system will be bad news for many of the hundreds of thousands of people harmed by their work each year. TUC's Hugh Robertson was commenting as the government confirmed it will press ahead with the reforms to civil compensation, including personal injury claims. These proposals, contained in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, 'will seriously damage access to justice for many working people,' writes the TUC head of safety in the union body's Touchstone blog. 'While attention has focused on those sections of the bill dealing with legal aid and sentencing, other parts could also prove to be disastrous for those people seeking compensation because of an injury at work caused by the employers' negligence.' He adds: 'Union members will be among the millions who are deprived of the ability to claim compensation, or who will lose damages. As many as 25 per cent of injury claims will not be brought. Those that proceed might lose up to 25 per cent of damages for the success fee and further substantial reductions for required legal expense insurance.' He says many people will no longer be able to obtain legal representation, particularly for low value or complex cases. 'However, although a claim of £3,000 or £4,000 may be considered to be low value by the government, it is not low value to a cleaner who earns £6 an hour and represents four months wages.' He warns workplace safety will be another victim. 'By reducing the threat of litigation in workplace accidents and diseases, health and safety at work will be undermined. The money taken from claimants and their representatives won't benefit the Treasury, but the big insurers will gain a windfall.'
A government shake-up of the legal system will be bad news for many of the hundreds of thousands of people harmed by their work each year. TUC's Hugh Robertson was commenting as the government confirmed it will press ahead with the reforms to civil compensation, including personal injury claims. These proposals, contained in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, 'will seriously damage access to justice for many working people,' writes the TUC head of safety in the union body's Touchstone blog. 'While attention has focused on those sections of the bill dealing with legal aid and sentencing, other parts could also prove to be disastrous for those people seeking compensation because of an injury at work caused by the employers' negligence.' He adds: 'Union members will be among the millions who are deprived of the ability to claim compensation, or who will lose damages. As many as 25 per cent of injury claims will not be brought. Those that proceed might lose up to 25 per cent of damages for the success fee and further substantial reductions for required legal expense insurance.' He says many people will no longer be able to obtain legal representation, particularly for low value or complex cases. 'However, although a claim of £3,000 or £4,000 may be considered to be low value by the government, it is not low value to a cleaner who earns £6 an hour and represents four months wages.' He warns workplace safety will be another victim. 'By reducing the threat of litigation in workplace accidents and diseases, health and safety at work will be undermined. The money taken from claimants and their representatives won't benefit the Treasury, but the big insurers will gain a windfall.'
Code Breaking Challenge
PCS in Leeds have issued the following: In conjunction with the recent visit to Bletchley Park (Home of the WWII code breaking museum) the Queen has launched a code breaking challenge which is open to ages 13 to 16. The challenge is contained within a document here with the last coded message being the subject of the competition and closes on Thursday 18th August.Given that school's will be breaking up for the summer very soon, PCS thought this would be something useful for staff who are looking ways to keep their children amused during this time.
28.7.11
PCS statement to members on public sector pensions
PCS HQ has issued the following statement to all PCS members:
"The government has today (Thursday 28 July) made further announcements regarding their attacks on public sector pensions confirming what we have said all along:
they want you to pay more and work longer for a smaller pension.
All of this despite the evidence clearly demonstrating that changes are not required.
They argue that there is protection for low paid workers. But this only applies to those earning less than £15,000 (only 4% of PCS members). Those who earn between £15,000 and £21,000 will pay 1.5% more and those above £21,000 will pay anything between 3% and 6%.
All of this at a time of a pay freeze, rising prices and no certainty about the future pension. Nearly all members will have to pay more, to work longer, and get a pension not as good as their current scheme.
The talks to date have been about public sector pensions in general. Now the government wants to move to talks about individual schemes. We are considering our approach to these talks and are discussing this with the other civil service unions. We need to be sure that these talks are real negotiations not just about implementing predetermined plans.
On 30 June members took strike action alongside members of three education unions. Other unions have already indicated that they are looking to join us in any further action. Unless the government engages in serious and honest negotiations, more public sector workers will be striking in the autumn. This will be critical to ensure the so-called consultation is taken seriously by government.
We know that our pensions are affordable and sustainable – indeed earlier in the week a senior cabinet minister, Andrew Lansley, said that the government’s proposals were wrong.
The government says this is about paying to tackle the deficit, but there is an alternative way that would prevent the need for the government to impose what is effectively an extra tax on working in the public sector.
Instead of targeting public servants, pensioners, students, disabled people and those entitled to welfare payments, the government should invest in jobs and public services to help our economy to grow and tackle seriously the £120 billion in taxes lost each year through tax evasion, avoidance and a lack of resources in Revenue and Customs."
"The government has today (Thursday 28 July) made further announcements regarding their attacks on public sector pensions confirming what we have said all along:
they want you to pay more and work longer for a smaller pension.
All of this despite the evidence clearly demonstrating that changes are not required.
They argue that there is protection for low paid workers. But this only applies to those earning less than £15,000 (only 4% of PCS members). Those who earn between £15,000 and £21,000 will pay 1.5% more and those above £21,000 will pay anything between 3% and 6%.
All of this at a time of a pay freeze, rising prices and no certainty about the future pension. Nearly all members will have to pay more, to work longer, and get a pension not as good as their current scheme.
The talks to date have been about public sector pensions in general. Now the government wants to move to talks about individual schemes. We are considering our approach to these talks and are discussing this with the other civil service unions. We need to be sure that these talks are real negotiations not just about implementing predetermined plans.
On 30 June members took strike action alongside members of three education unions. Other unions have already indicated that they are looking to join us in any further action. Unless the government engages in serious and honest negotiations, more public sector workers will be striking in the autumn. This will be critical to ensure the so-called consultation is taken seriously by government.
We know that our pensions are affordable and sustainable – indeed earlier in the week a senior cabinet minister, Andrew Lansley, said that the government’s proposals were wrong.
The government says this is about paying to tackle the deficit, but there is an alternative way that would prevent the need for the government to impose what is effectively an extra tax on working in the public sector.
Instead of targeting public servants, pensioners, students, disabled people and those entitled to welfare payments, the government should invest in jobs and public services to help our economy to grow and tackle seriously the £120 billion in taxes lost each year through tax evasion, avoidance and a lack of resources in Revenue and Customs."
UAF Leafletting
Dear colleagues,
We have been asked to pass on an announcement that local anti-fascist activists will be leafletting against the English Defence League in Blackpool this Saturday.
If you wish to help with the leafletting please contact the branch office on 01253 331186 for further details.
A good source of current information and news about the EDL is Lancaster Unity.
We have been asked to pass on an announcement that local anti-fascist activists will be leafletting against the English Defence League in Blackpool this Saturday.
If you wish to help with the leafletting please contact the branch office on 01253 331186 for further details.
A good source of current information and news about the EDL is Lancaster Unity.
27.7.11
Turrrets and Staffing Etc - Reminder
To all members of the PCS Fylde Central Benefitsand Services Branch at Warbreck who work on Turrets.
MEMBERS’ MEETINGS
THURSDAY 28th JULY 2011
Dear Colleagues
Members will be fully aware of the job cuts that have been announced in the Comprehensive Spending Review.
Senior PDCS Management have continued discussions with PCS about the Turrets and call handling. These discussions have included potential changes to the manner in which calls are handled at Warbreck. We met last on 6th July 2011. We have requested time to meet with the members who work on Turrets.
We have arranged two members’ meetings as follows to discuss the latest issues:
THURSDAY 28th JULY 2011
Warbreck Canteen - 10.00 am
Warbreck Canteen - 2.00 pm
If you have read this post and are not a member; then please complete an application form to join. Only members who work on Turrets may attend the meeting. We look forward to seeing you there.
26.7.11
Call for ministers to put safety before profits
The government must not allow workers to die to boost business profits, civil service union PCS has said. The union, which has hundreds of members in the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), made the call in responses to government-initiated reviews of health and safety legislation. It says when coalition politicians talk about 'reducing the burden of health and safety legislation on UK businesses... this demonstrates a lack of care for employees by the UK government.' The union says its members in HSE are fighting a 35 per cent budget cut over four years, which it believes would make it 'very difficult' for them to do their jobs properly, a problem amplified for the government's risky strategy. According to PCS: 'The proposed changes are pro-business. They will increase risk-taking by employers and increase the number of work-related stress cases, near misses, injuries and fatalities.' The union adds that a three-pronged attack on workplace health and safety is currently underway. The government commissioned Löfstedt review of health and safety has been given a deregulatory brief and is due to report in October. A government initiated sickness absence review is being co-chaired by the head of the strongly anti-safety regulation British Chambers of Commerce. And the government's Red Tape Challenge is highlighting health and safety regulation until 21 July.
22.7.11
High court challenge over cuts to redundancy pay
The government's cuts to redundancy terms for civil and public servants will tomorrow face a legal challenge in the high court from the two largest civil service unions.
PCS and the Prison Officers' Association are challenging by way of a judicial review cuts to redundancy pay imposed through legislation passed last year.
The unions - which together represent almost two-thirds of the total civil service workforce - argue that, because rights to certain redundancy terms have accrued through length of service, they are classed as a "possession" in human rights law and should not be "interfered with" unless there is an over-riding public interest.
In November, MPs and Lords on the human rights joint committee criticised the government's plans as they were going through parliament, saying ministers had not made the case for capping payouts.
During the bill's progress, PCS accused Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude of misleading MPs when he claimed in parliament the union had declined invitations to negotiate.
The previous government's attempt to impose a civil service compensation scheme, which governs redundancy terms, was struck down by the high court shortly before the general election last year following a successful judicial review taken by PCS.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "Ministers simply want to make it easier and cheaper to throw 100,000 of their own staff out of work in the deluded belief this will help our economy get back on track.
"We are determined to fight this, not just to protect our members' jobs but to defend the communities they serve from the ideological vandals in this Tory-led cabinet. Instead of cutting jobs, the government should be creating them and investing in our public services to help our economy to grow."
PCS and the Prison Officers' Association are challenging by way of a judicial review cuts to redundancy pay imposed through legislation passed last year.
The unions - which together represent almost two-thirds of the total civil service workforce - argue that, because rights to certain redundancy terms have accrued through length of service, they are classed as a "possession" in human rights law and should not be "interfered with" unless there is an over-riding public interest.
In November, MPs and Lords on the human rights joint committee criticised the government's plans as they were going through parliament, saying ministers had not made the case for capping payouts.
During the bill's progress, PCS accused Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude of misleading MPs when he claimed in parliament the union had declined invitations to negotiate.
The previous government's attempt to impose a civil service compensation scheme, which governs redundancy terms, was struck down by the high court shortly before the general election last year following a successful judicial review taken by PCS.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "Ministers simply want to make it easier and cheaper to throw 100,000 of their own staff out of work in the deluded belief this will help our economy get back on track.
"We are determined to fight this, not just to protect our members' jobs but to defend the communities they serve from the ideological vandals in this Tory-led cabinet. Instead of cutting jobs, the government should be creating them and investing in our public services to help our economy to grow."
12.7.11
Expert slams government's safe jobs 'fantasy'
Cuts to safety enforcement, regulation and budgets are being justified with government 'lies', UNISON members have been told. Addressing 150 concerned workers at a fringe meeting of the union's annual conference last week, Hazards Campaign spokesperson Hilda Palmer ripped into the cut price, cut back health and safety strategy which will see most workers in 'low risk' workplaces shunted off the official enforcement radar. 'The government claims that offices shops and schools - the kind of places where UNISON members work - are non-hazardous. This is wrong. You are actually quite likely to die of stress-related illnesses,' she said. She added that people who work with computers or in call centres are more likely to suffer from muscle and joint disorders. Employment minister Chris Grayling 'hated health and safety' and wanted to throw the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on the 'bonfire of the quangos,' she said. The minister has fronted a government assault on health and safety that has seen HSE inspector numbers slashed, preventive safety inspections cut back by 11,000 a year and an attack of safety regulations based on an unfounded claim they inhibit enterprise and are bad for business, she said. 'There is an acceptance that proactive inspections work,' Palmer added. 'But they are not taking place in agriculture, which kills more workers per 100,000 than any other industry, manufacturing and the whole of the public sector. The idea that work is safe is a lie.' The Hazards Campaign is leading a 'We didn't vote to die at work' campaign, to challenge the government's safety strategy.
Unions denounce safety red tape 'sham'
The increasingly desperate tone and tactics employed by the government in its attempts to justify the removal of safety protection at work have been described by unions as a 'sham' bordering on 'reality TV show' banality. In a news release issued this week by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), employment minister said the government's Red Tape Challenge on health and safety regulations, which will run from 30 June to 21 July, 'is the opportunity that every beleaguered business leader, incredulous community group or outraged newspaper reader has been waiting for - a chance to directly change the laws underpinning Britain's health and safety culture.' In a statement, the TUC was highly critical of the government approach. 'The government is, once again, spreading the myth that health and safety regulation is 'red tape'. We do not believe that government policy should be made on the basis of who shouts loudest, and do not think that the safety and health of workers should be determined by the outcome of a web-based discussion forum,' the statement said. 'The need to protect your workers is not a burden, it is a responsibility and, at times like this we should be trying to ensure that employers do obey the law and do not cut corners. Instead we have seen a retreat away from enforcement, two reviews of health and safety regulation and now this. What is to be next - a TV reality show to decide what piece of legislation gets ditched?' TUC added that the approach is 'a flawed process which undermines the existing decision-making process on health and safety which seeks to regulate on the basis of consensus and evidence.' Unite general secretary Len McCluskey dismissed the red tape challenge as an 'insult' and 'a sham.' He added: 'It is not an appropriate way to determine government policy on health and safety at work - and it is an insult to workers everywhere, particularly those who have been injured themselves or for those families who have lost a loved one.'
Abuse aimed at pickets
On Thursday 30th June 2011 at circa 8 am a C Cabs driver made foul and abusive gestures made by towards male and female members of PCS, DWP Fylde Central Benefits and Services and SPVA Branches, who were picketing at the White Carr Lane Gate at Norcross.
We were obviously disappointed that anyone would chose to make foul and abusive gestures towards male and female PCS members, and brought this behaviour to the attention of the Managing Director of C Cabs giving them, out of courtesy, the opportunity to comment on the behaviour of one of C Cabs drivers.
There has been no reply and therefore we thought that we ought to bring this to the attention of the membership of the Branches.
We were obviously disappointed that anyone would chose to make foul and abusive gestures towards male and female PCS members, and brought this behaviour to the attention of the Managing Director of C Cabs giving them, out of courtesy, the opportunity to comment on the behaviour of one of C Cabs drivers.
There has been no reply and therefore we thought that we ought to bring this to the attention of the membership of the Branches.
PCS National Black Members' seminar 2011
The PCS National Black Members' seminar 2011 is scheduled to be held from the 21st - 23rd of October 2011.
This year’s seminar will be held in Liverpool at the Adelphi Hotel, the theme is the ‘Public Sector Cuts – The Impact: Resistance and Fight Back.’
The seminar presents an opportunity for PCS members from the African & Asian Diaspora to develop ideas about how to organise and campaign against public sector cuts. The seminar will look at workplace and community issues. Interested?
Please email equality@pcs.org.uk or ring the Equality Department on 0207 801 2683 for more information.
Please note the closing date for application is Friday 30 September 2011.
The application form can be found here.
Event Contact:
Phyllis Opoku-Gyimah
Tel: 020 7801 2683
This year’s seminar will be held in Liverpool at the Adelphi Hotel, the theme is the ‘Public Sector Cuts – The Impact: Resistance and Fight Back.’
The seminar presents an opportunity for PCS members from the African & Asian Diaspora to develop ideas about how to organise and campaign against public sector cuts. The seminar will look at workplace and community issues. Interested?
Please email equality@pcs.org.uk or ring the Equality Department on 0207 801 2683 for more information.
Please note the closing date for application is Friday 30 September 2011.
The application form can be found here.
Event Contact:
Phyllis Opoku-Gyimah
Tel: 020 7801 2683
1.7.11
Civil Service Wide Overtime Ban Throughout July
The purpose of this post is to inform members that the well supported strike action on the 30th of June 2011 is to be followed by a Civil Service wide overtime ban.PCS has done everything possible to negotiate a solution to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme, the Pay Freeze, and our Pensions however to date there has not been an acceptable outcome from the Government.
We have already witnessed over two thousand job losses from the Fylde economy due to the job cuts in the area and even more are now in jeopardy, we have seen our pay frozen (and unlike other areas of the Public Sector our Pay Progression isn’t separately funded meaning that we are treated even more unfairly than other public servants), our Pensions are under attack (we are being expected to pay more for our pensions, work longer and receive less) and our redundancy terms are being cut so that it is cheaper to get rid of us.
We are being asked to pay for the financial mess created by the bankers and the financial speculators and spivs, with our jobs, our pay, our pensions and our conditions of service. The financial mess was none of our making. It’s their financial mess make them pay for it.
It is time for members to show that they oppose the notion of being forced to pay for the excesses of the spivs.
Our reasonable demands are:
- No detrimental changes to our pensions and our redundancy payments
- Application and strengthening on the protocols to avoid redundancy
- An end to the pay freeze and a fair pay rise for all members
SUPPORT THE CIVIL SERVICE WIDE OVERTIME BAN THROUGHOUT JULY 2011
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