ALL OUT ON 30th NOVEMBER 2011

Then a Civil Service wide overtime
ban throughout December 2011

The purpose of this post is to inform members of the strike action on the 30th November 2011 to be followed by a Civil Service wide overtime ban throughout December. PCS has done everything possible to negotiate a solution to the disputes over Pensions, the Civil Service Compensation Scheme and the Pay Freeze 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 and many members are facing being made redundant, 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

Join your colleagues on strike on the 30th November 2011 and support the Civil Service wide overtime ban throughout December 2011.

Potential Members
If you have not yet joined your Union, please complete the form here to join.

PCS in the North West
More information on PCS in the North West can be found here. The PCS NW web page will be updated with information on rallies being held on November 30th locally. The TUC also have a dedicated web page for the rallies here with more information.

The Blackpool Rally details are below:

• Assemble from 12 noon at St John's square (outside the church by the bus shelter)


• Move off for the march at 12.15pm


• Return to St John's square by 1pm


• Rally at the Ruskin Hotel on Albert Road from 1.15pm (Several notable speakers have been lined up).

Sick Pay is good for everyone

The following information has been supplied by the TUC:

A week before the Government published a report on sick pay in the UK a research study in the US says that extending paid sick leave could save the country $1 billion in medical costs annually. On 21st November the UK Government will unveil a report by Dame Carol Black and David Frost into the workings of the present sickness absence and sick pay scheme. While it is not unlikely to propose a major overhaul of the system many unions and disability charities are worried that it might be used to force workers back too early. However according to a report released today by the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR), paid sick leave is good for the economy, employers and the country. Currently, more than 44 million American workers do not have access to paid sick days, and more are unable to use time off to take care of sick children or other family members. "Taking time off work to see a primary care doctor is common sense, but over 40 million Americans cannot do so without losing pay or their job," said Kevin Miller, Senior Research Associate with IWPR and an author of the report." Americans are paying over $1 billion each year in preventable emergency department costs because hard-working people without paid sick days are unable to get the preventative and early treatment they and their children need." Employees with access to paid sick days have an easier time getting to a doctor during regular business hours to care for themselves or family members. In turn, access to paid sick days can help to decrease the likelihood that a worker will put off needed care and increases access to preventive care among workers and their children.

Pension dispute - Frequently Asked Questions

PCS HQ have added some answers to frequently asked questions that often pop up around times of dispute with the Employer.

Please take a moment to have a look here if you have any queries.

Scottish business lobby has concerns for HSE

Scotland's business lobby is facing a quandary about health and safety, torn between concern about the rapidly diminishing support provided by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and its more traditional opposition to regulatory controls. In evidence to the Scottish Affairs Select Committee, the Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC) said it was concerned by the prospect of an 'increasing disconnect' between the HSE and businesses operating in lower or medium-risk sectors. Giving evidence to the Committee on 26 October, the SCC's head of policy and public affairs, Garry Clark, told MPs that larger companies often have good and long-standing relationships with the HSE, and are backed by teams of dedicated health and safety staff; by contrast, smaller firms rarely have such support. SHP Online, produced by safety professionals' body IOSH, reports Clark told the committee, which is conducting an inquiry into the health and safety system in Scotland, a reduced HSE profile 'will make businesses more likely to have false perceptions of the weight of health and safety legislation and what impact it could have on their business.' According to SHP Online: 'This suggestion that curbs on regulatory inspections could actually cloud the legislative landscape for lower-risk firms and smaller businesses, rather than freeing them to expand and take on staff, would seem to blow a big hole in the government's policy on reducing so-called health and safety red tape.' Both SCC and the Chemical Industries Association (CIA) had worries about HSE's new charging regime, due to take effect next year. CIA's Phil Scott told the committee: 'There will be less clarity about when an inspector will come, what they will be looking at, and whether or not there will be a charge at the end. Most small to medium-sized businesses will not have a budget for this, so they will be faced with charges at a month's notice, on a month's invoice. They could be paying quite significant sums of money.'

TUC warns that safety cuts will mean more injuries

The following has been supplied by the TUC:

The TUC has warned that cuts in enforcement could lead to an upturn in work-related deaths, sickness and injuries. The union body was commenting after official figures showed a fall last year in work-related ill-health and injuries. The statistics released by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) this week show that in 2010/11, 24,726 major injuries were reported by employers, at a rate of 99 injuries per 100,000 workers, compared with 26,268 in 2009/10, at a rate of 104.8. An estimated 1.2 million people said they were suffering from an illness caused or made worse by their work - 500,000 new illnesses occurring in-year - down from 1.3 million in 2009/10, said the report. The statistics show 171 workers were fatally injured - up from 147 the previous year. Deaths from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma reached a record 2,321 in 2009 (the latest year for which statistics are available), according to the report, up from a then record 2,263 in 2008. The toll of injury and ill-health resulted in 26.4 million working days being lost, an average of 15 days per case - 22.1 million to ill-health and 4.4 million to injury. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber commented: 'These figures cover the period before government changes to the level of safety inspections were introduced. There is a very real danger that the long term downward trends in injury and illness rates that we have seen over recent years will start rising again, as has happened with fatalities.' He added: 'While any reduction is of course welcome, the cuts to the HSE budget, and the coalition government's retreat from inspection activity is very worrying for the future.'

Tory self-regulation threat re-emerges

The following has been supplied by the TUC:

Ideas for business self-regulation floated by the Conservatives prior to and immediately after they won the election have resurfaced. Top Tories had talked of introducing a system of 'earned autonomy', where firms with better safety records could opt-out of official health and safety inspections. Other ideas included more partnership systems, along the lines of the contentious US voluntary protection programmes scaled back when President Obama came to power. The ideas re-emerged in a 1 November speech by business and enterprise minister Mark Prisk to the Local and National Regulators annual conference. He told regulators 'when regulation becomes heavy-handed, inefficient, prescriptive and risk-averse it drags down the ability of businesses to grow, prosper and create jobs.' He added: 'The challenge is to transform the regulatory landscape so that the system delivers essential protections whilst avoiding unnecessary interference in the day to day work of hard-working business people seeking to innovate and grow and thereby delivering the jobs and wealth we need.' Proposals highlighted by the minister included more use of 'co-regulation, where business shares a degree of regulatory responsibility, for example through industry bodies setting professional and working standards.' Also on his deregulatory wishlist was 'earned recognition' - where regulators recognise business activities that support compliance and reduce intervention, creating a stronger incentive for private sector led compliance.' Conservative and government talk of business self-regulation took a backseat in the months following the banking crisis, where the self-policing approach was widely blamed for the economic catastrophic and persisting downturn that followed. On 25 October, Downing Street announced former Tory Cabinet minister Lord Young had been re-appointed as an adviser to the prime minister on enterprise, indicating he 'will work on reducing the burden on business from health and safety regulations, working across departments on the implementation of his recommendations.'

TUC warning on Clegg's call for inspection cuts

The following has been supplied by the TUC:

A new system of regulation which could cap the number of workplace inspections of small businesses has been criticised by the TUC as dangerous and unwanted. Commenting on an announcement by deputy prime minister Nick Clegg this week that the government is set to cap workplace inspections for small companies to just two a year to cut back on 'red tape', TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'This is another example of the government putting the right to make a fast buck before our health and safety and our lives - although at least the deputy prime minister acknowledges the dangers of the 'scrap it all' line peddled by the Tory diehards.' He added: 'Regulation is there to protect us all from businesses that rip us off, trash our environment, and risk our health - or even our lives. However, it is only of use if it is enforced. Enforcement should not be seen as a burden on business, but instead a way of ensuring that good businesses are not undercut by cowboys who disregard the law and cut corners, whether it is on paying VAT or not polluting our rivers. Cuts in enforcement will put even more of us at risk of damaged health or injury or death in our workplaces.' He added that the government was responding to the shrill calls of business lobby groups who were not representing the real concerns of small firms. 'A brand new survey of small and medium-sized enterprises published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), shows that employment law and health and safety regulation do not even feature in their list of concerns,' he said. 'It would appear that employer organisations are pursuing a fanatical right wing agenda that does not actually reflect the concerns of their members.'

Public Meeting on Education - Blackpool

The following has been supplied by the NUT:

The Government wants to see more and more schools turned into academies. Should we be concerned about academies?

Speakers
Councillor Simon Blackburn, Leader of Blackpool Council
Ken Cridland, Secretary of Lancashire National Union of Teachers
Keith Bradley, Anti-Academy Alliance national speaker

Thursday November 3rd, 7.30pm
St Kentigern's Parish Centre
Newton Drive
Blackpool
FY3 8BT.

Meeting sponsored by Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde branches of the National Union of Teachers

Preparations continue

Please see the PCS HQ website here for information on the PCS response to the recent Government pension announcement.

Stress Awareness Day Roadshows

The Branch is holding stress awareness roadshows at Warbreck House and Peel Park on Thursday this week.

The details of the stalls are as follows:

Thursday 3rd November 2011
Deli Bar Phase II
Peel Park
11.45 am to 13.30 pm

Thursday 3rd November 2011
Inside Warbreck Canteen
11.45 am to 13.30 pm

Please come along and pick up handouts on Stress and other related matters.

If you haven't joined your union yet, please contact the Branch Office or print and fill in the form here.

If you require any further details then please do not hesitate contact Mick Daniels on Ext 62881.