New website!! A new branch website has been set up. Click here to go to it!
URGENT REMINDER: HMRC Ballot Papers received from 11 May
We had a really good day of national action. We need to maintain the momentum and ensure that all members are prepared to vote in the HMRC ballot. Members will be receiving ballot papers from today, 11 May. Turnout and a positive vote are going to be absolutely crucial in achieving our objectives:
· No further job cuts in HMRC;
· No compulsory redundancies or compulsory moves beyond RDT
· Privatisation trials to be brought to an immediate end
· Consideration points removed from the attendance management policy.
Vote YES YES
Thanks for your support
Members in HMRC will receive ballot papers from 11 May, asking for support to take industrial action over our key demands on job cuts and privatisation. If we are to have an influence on the department, and in order to strengthen the hand of PCS negotiators, it is absolutely imperative that we get a high turnout in the ballot and a massive YES vote to be able to take industrial action.
NATIONAL ACTION
On 10 May over 400,000 workers across the public sector took strike action in opposition to attacks on our pensions. Significantly, around 30,000 police officers marched through central London against privatisation and cuts, and prison officers, who by law are not allowed to take strike action, joined us in unofficial walkouts in opposition to the pension’s attacks.
Strike action in HMRC was very well supported and in all areas we have reports that an increased number of PCS members stayed away from work. The government is inevitably attempting to downplay the strike because they are shaken by the determination and anger felt by civil servants. The events on 10 May represent an historic chapter in our national campaign to defend pensions, jobs and services.
SUPPORT THE BALLOT FOR ACTION IN HMRC
As an integral part of the national campaign, but as part of pursuing departmental specific objectives, the Revenue & Customs group are now balloting all members on key issues in HMRC:
· No further job cuts in HMRC
· No compulsory redundancies or compulsory moves beyond reasonable distance
· An end to the privatisation trials in HMRC
· An end the use of consideration points in the attendance management policy
We will continue to seek to reach a negotiated settlement without the need for members to have to take action. However, as it currently stands the department has refused to make concessions on any of our key demands. If you work in HMRC you should be able to come to work without the threat of privatisation or the threat of your job being cut, in a stable and secure environment with decent terms and conditions. We must translate the anger felt by members into a firm response.
We ask all members to vote YES to take strike action and YES to action short of strike action and to encourage others to do the same.
Taking strike action is always a last resort. We would prefer to work and live a life free from attack. Unfortunately this government wants working people to pay the price for an economic crisis not of our making. As part of the ‘efficiency measures’, the government and the department plan to cut or sell off to the private sector a further 10,000 jobs in HMRC. Our members also have to contend with draconian sickness absence policies designed to place pressure on us when we’re ill.
Two private companies operate in our contact centres. If you work for a company like Teleperformance, who are based in the HMRC office in Bathgate, you can expect to be paid £3,000 a year less and subjected to a number of measures at the discretion of the company. This includes having to work overtime with no extra pay, being fined for not adhering to their strict dress code, having your pay arrangements changed and being expected to work shift patterns with no choice.
This is not the environment we should be working in. HMRC workers, like all public servants, take pride in their job and quite rightly expect to be treated with dignity and respect in the workplace. We all now face the real threat of having to work for a private company who may have no regard for the well being of their workers.
We say that the two private companies currently being paid to handle calls in Bathgate and Lillyhall, Sitel and Teleperformance, should be out of HMRC. Those workers should be recruited to our union and instead their jobs brought back in-house.
THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE
When we stand together we are strong. As a result of taking action together, we secured a future for our members in Wick for a further two years and removed the need for members to take medical appointments in their own time. As a result of our Tax Justice campaign, we helped secure over £900 million investment in HMRC to help close tax loopholes.
We now call on all members to stand together once again and to demand a future for workers in HMRC. All members need to vote YES for strike action and YES for action short of strike action. All members have a responsibility to help build our strength by asking colleagues to join our union and to participate in our campaign to defend jobs and services in HMRC.
Vote YES/YES to fight for our key demands:
· No further job cuts in HMRC
· No compulsory redundancies or moves beyond reasonable distance
· End the privatisation trials in HMRC
· End the use of consideration points in the attendance management policy
The government want PCS members to:
Pay more – Extra pension contributions have been imposed for most civil servants –with further increases planned for the next two years.
Work longer– Civil service retirement is now linked to the state pension age – that’s already rising to 68 and the government says it will get higher.
Get less – Changes to indexation from RPI to the lower CPI inflation mean pensions fall by 15 to 20%.
We can’t afford not to - Civil servants and other public sector workers are uniting to defend everything we have worked for. The government is: Making civil servants pay up to three times as much for smaller pensions after working up to eight more years – or even longer. Freezing wages while prices are soaring. The latest scheme is regional pay – which would mean wage cuts for everyone outside London. Take a stand on May 10th with colleagues from across government departments and with other trade unions across the public services. We are demanding real negotiations with the government, not imposed cuts.
10 May - All out! Hands off our pensions!
New Civil Service Pension scheme
PCS and Unite plan closer co-operation
"Whitehall Tax Breaks must end!"
BBC News - Exhibition marks sacrifices of the Scots who fought Franco www.bbc.co.ukThe sacrifices of 500 Scottish volunteers who fought Franco during the Spanish Civil War is marked in an exhibition seen for the first time in Scotland. Another chance to see Pathe News Spanish Civil War Films.
"Pension change will save little."
Tax deadline extended due to strike
FINAL NATIONAL CAMPAIGNS UPDATE OF 2011 – PENSIONS LATEST
As branches will no doubt be aware last week the government presented the unions with an offer on pensions which we don't believe is acceptable.
Below are various stories/comment pieces that PCS have published , please circulate to your networks and encourage them to keep up-to-date with our dispute by reviewing the main PCS website www.cs.org.uk
We've been at the forefront of the labour movement calling for a national demo which brought half a million people out on London's streets, we led the pensions fight in June with teachers and lecturers and then called for unity in November where 2.5 million workers took action. We wish you all the best for a relaxing break and we look forward to working with you all again in 2012 to defend our members and the services you provide.
BBC News - Exhibition marks sacrifices of the Scots who fought Franco www.bbc.co.ukThe sacrifices of 500 Scottish volunteers who fought Franco during the Spanish Civil War is marked in an exhibition seen for the first time in Scotland. Another chance to see Pathe News Spanish Civil War Films.
"Pension change will save little."
Tax deadline extended due to strike
FINAL NATIONAL CAMPAIGNS UPDATE OF 2011 – PENSIONS LATEST
As branches will no doubt be aware last week the government presented the unions with an offer on pensions which we don't believe is acceptable.
Below are various stories/comment pieces that PCS have published , please circulate to your networks and encourage them to keep up-to-date with our dispute by reviewing the main PCS website www.cs.org.uk
- PCS stands firm for fair pensions deal: http://bit.ly/uNg6jJ
- An explanation of the government's pensions offer: http://bit.ly/rpHhRy
- Mark stands up for fair pensions: http://bit.ly/rTkykG
- Pensions offer - what the unions say: http://bit.ly/vl1bQk
We've been at the forefront of the labour movement calling for a national demo which brought half a million people out on London's streets, we led the pensions fight in June with teachers and lecturers and then called for unity in November where 2.5 million workers took action. We wish you all the best for a relaxing break and we look forward to working with you all again in 2012 to defend our members and the services you provide.
