To all members and potential
members of the PCS Fylde Central Benefits and Services Branch
The purpose of this post is
to inform members who may not already be aware but today, 27th June 2012, the employer has announced that the DWP Norcross
site is to close.
The employer in an earlier
meeting, and elsewhere has indicated that there will not be any DWP job losses
or job losses in any of the contractors for the DWP as a result of today’s
announcement. You may also be aware of the amount of work that has been
undertaken by the Branch in raising the issue of job cuts and the potential of
a site closing with the local MPs and local council leadership. There has been
a fair degree of coverage in the media about these meetings and our campaign to
defend jobs and promote the economy of the Fylde.
We do not believe that the
decision announced today defends jobs nor does it promote the economy of the
Fylde. It merely cements in the two thousand five hundred job losses that there
have been in the over the last few years and means that it is highly unlikely/
impossible for there to be any return of those numbers of jobs.
What happens now?
The Branch has today written
to the employer setting out a series of questions regarding the closure. The
topics include; confirmation that there will not be any job losses in the DWP
(including FLSMs etc) or the contractors (including catering, cleaning,
messengerial, security etc), that no work will move away from the Fylde, details
about the units that may be going to other sites, and the question of members
potentially being posted outside of the mobility conditions of service. This is
merely the tip of the iceberg.
I will keep members informed
of any updates.
If you have any questions
please do not hesitate to contact me.
Again if you require copies
of the five circulars that have been issued over the last couple of months,
which include details about your conditions of service and potential options
then please do not hesitate to contact me.
Remember that it is important that members at
Norcross actively support the Campaigns that the Branch/ PCS take
forward.
Yours
sincerely
Duncan Griffiths
Branch Secretary
