Save our Shared Services

The following has been supplied by PCS HQ:

Last week PCS members in Bootle supported the first day in a 6-day strike against privatisation of MoJ shared services.

The action, which includes 118 members and runs until 31 July, is part of our ongoing campaign to protect jobs and prevent offshoring in shared services, covering areas such as finance, IT or HR. There is also a 1-day strike by MOJ shared services members in Newport on 31 July and the national overtime ban, which runs until 31 July, will be extended for these members until 31 August.

If you work in the Ministry of Justice, NOMS or the Home Office, this privatisation would mean your personal data being sold-off to Steria and potentially offshored.

Send a message to Chris Grayling telling him not to sell-off your personal data. 

If you don't work in the above areas but would like to show support you are encouraged to do the following:

• Sign the petition against privatisation
• Send messages of support to solidarity@pcs.org.uk 
• Contribute to the PCS strike fund.

Wilting workers need heat wave help

The following details have been supplied by the TUC:
As summer temperatures soar, the TUC is calling on employers to relax workplace dress codes temporarily to help their staff work through the heatwave as comfortably as possible.

Although there is a legal limit below which workplace temperatures should not fall (16°C), there is no upper limit.

For many years the TUC has been pushing for a change in safety regulations to introduce a new maximum temperature of 30°C – or 27°C for those doing strenuous work – with employers forced to adopt cooling measures when the workplace temperature hits 24°C. In the meantime employers can help their overheating staff by allowing them to leave their more formal office attire at home for the rest of the week, says the TUC.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “When it’s hot outside, it’s no fun for those trapped inside in overheated workplaces. Extreme heat can be as unpleasant to work in as extreme cold, and so long as the UK has no legal maximum working temperature, many workers will be working in conditions that are not just personally unpleasant, but will also be affecting their productivity.”

She added: “Now is the time for employers to relax the dress code rules temporarily and allow their staff to dress down for summer. Making sure that everyone has access to fans, portable air conditioning units and cold drinking water should help reduce the heat in offices, factories, shops, hospitals, schools and other workplaces across the country.”

Grayling’s dumb solution is an embarrassing turkey

The following details have been supplied by the TUC:
A proposed law the justice secretary Chris Grayling says will “slay the health and safety culture” has been condemned by the TUC and labelled “a turkey” by Labour.

In an interview to the Daily Telegraph, the Cabinet minister claimed that the Bill, which went before the House of Commons this week, was to address cases where a “person does something dumb, hurts themselves and sues the employer anyway.”

The Telegraph and then the Daily Mail printed his comments uncritically.

But the Social Action, Responsibility and Heroism Bill (SARAH), also called the Hero’s Bill, would in fact tell a court what it must consider in determining a claim in negligence or breach of statutory duty.

The TUC says even the government admits this has nothing to do with the “health and safety culture”. Other government arguments to justify the Bill, including claims a fear of litigation prevents volunteering and deters community heroes, are equally bogus, it says.

According to TUC’s Hugh Robertson: “Of course Grayling knows that he can make sweeping and completely misleading statements with no fear of anyone in the media actually picking him up on it because there is clearly no interest in achieving any kind of balance amongst some of the newspapers, and of course stories about unions stopping workers being killed does not sell papers.”

Speaking in the Commons debate, Labour’s Sadiq Khan said the Bill has been variously described as “complete gobbledygook” and “a turkey.” He added that the government’s own figures showed volunteering was up and workplace compensation claims had fallen dramatically. “And let’s be clear - this Bill is targeted at negligence and not at health and safety at all,” he said. “So when the Lord Chancellor claims, as he does, that this Bill will finally slay much of the ‘elf and safety’ culture, he must be honest and admit he is being disingenuous, to say the least.” He said Grayling could have brought forward a bill to protect the rights of victims. “Instead, we have the SARAH Bill. A turkey of a Bill. A vacuous Bill. Without doubt the most embarrassing and pathetic Bill the Ministry of Justice has published since the department was first formed.”

Sinking feeling as disaster ferry rules set to be scrapped

The following details have been supplied by the TUC:
In March 1987 the P&O ferry Herald of Free Enterprise sank outside Zeebrugge, resulting in 188 deaths.

An inquiry led to a considerable number of safety improvements. Now, in what the TUC describes as “another outbreak of deregulatory zeal,” the government want to remove some of these regulations.

Writing in the Stronger Unions blog, TUC head of safety Hugh Robertson notes: “It is not because this type of ferry no longer operates. There are 84 similar ferries flying the British flag. Nor is it because new designs mean that the regulations are no longer needed, after all the regulations are not about ferry design but safety measures. It is because the requirements are seen as being ‘red-tape’ and a cost to business… Their justification for removing safety rules brought in after the Zeebrugge disaster is that they go beyond the requirements for ships operating in countries like the Philippines or Bangladesh.”

Among the provisions to be cut is the requirement for watertight emergency lockers on the open deck that can be accessed if the ship capsizes. These are for things like axes and ladders. The justification for lifting the requirement is that “even if a situation occurred where the equipment could be used, it is unlikely that he degree of crew organisation necessary to make use of it could be maintained in the face of a catastrophic capsize.”

The consultation document adds that the government has been advised that a ship may sink too fast to use the equipment.

Also for the axe is a requirement to weigh cargo to ensure a ship is not overloaded – again, not because it is not a necessary safety rule, but because it only applies to UK ships.

According to TUC’s Hugh Robertson: “Of all the pieces of stupid, dangerous, ideologically-driven, anti-regulatory, claptrap, this is up there along with the proposals to exempt the self-employed from the Health and Safety at Work Act.” He added: “To say that you want to remove safety regulations solely because other countries do not have them is just part of the dangerous and reckless race to the bottom that this government has excelled in.”

Four passengers on an Isle of Wight ferry were hospitalised on 19 July after the upper car deck of the St Helen collapsed.

Civil Service-wide Overtime Ban

Dear Colleagues (and potential colleagues)

OVERTIME BAN FROM 11TH JULY TO 31ST JULY 2014.

The purpose of this post is to inform members of the overtime ban following on from the PCS strike action across the Civil Service and many other Public Sector areas on the 10th July 2014 that there is now a Civil Service wide overtime ban in place from 11th July to 31st July 2014.

Across the UK, pay cuts have damaged the economy and caused real hardship for millions of people. If pay had kept pace with inflation, average civil service pay would be £2,300 higher than it is now. But the government has announced that the pay cap will continue in 2014 and 2015 and possibly beyond.

PCS have submitted a pay claim to the Cabinet Office, which seeks a £1,200 or 5% pay increase. Further details of the claim are set out below.

PCS have sought central talks on our claim. Now is the time for members to get behind this campaign as we go from strength to strength in challenging the government’s low pay agenda. Working with other unions the joint action on 10th July 2014 is only be the beginning, with targeted action and potentially more joint union action, as well as a mass TUC-organised protest on 18 October 2014.

PCS has submitted a pay claim for 2014 demanding:

• An end to the government imposed pay freeze/cap
• A Minimum 5% or £1,200 consolidated pay increase
• Short pay scales and pay progression as a right for all staff
• Closing the pay gaps within and across departments
• No discriminatory performance pay
• The Living Wage to underpin all pay policies and contract

SUPPORT THE CIVIL SERVICE-WIDE OVERTIME BAN UNTIL 31st JULY 2014

TUC Rally - Saturday 18th October

PCS NW Regional Office has supplied the following information:

The TUC is calling for a huge march and rally in London on Saturday 18 October 2014 to support our claim that: BritainNeeds A Pay Rise.

As you would expect PCS is fully supporting the demonstration and we will again be looking to arrange transport to the event from various locations across the North West.

Inevitably places will be strictly limited and allocated on a first come first served basis - once again, more details will follow as soon as we have a clearer idea of what is available.

Regards

Lee Hammond

Administrator

PCS North West

If you would like to attend the rally please contact

us in the Branch office on x67400 or email us.