The Blair government is putting the lessons it has learned in Iraq
to good use in attacking workers at home. They have unleashed a
campaign of shock and awe against their own workers in the civil
service.
Over the summer Gordon Brown casually announced plans for the
biggest campaign of attacks on the civil service in the whole of
history. After playing a game of chicken with the opposition to see who
would go highest, Brother Brown outdid the Tories and emerged
victorious having promised to sack one fifth of the service over the
next three years – that is 104,000 staff from across all departments.
In reality the government is playing Russian roulette. They have
been heaping attacks on public sector workers for years and people are
sick of it – the latest also includes, 20,000 jobs being relocated
across the country from London and the South East, and a new proposal
to change current terms and conditions, increase working hours, raise
the age of retirement, and restrict the number of sick days people can
take.
The PCS union balloted all 265,000 members urging a bold yes vote to
strengthen it’s hand in negotiations. The members responded with a
massive majority of two to one vote in favour of strike action. The
union has called a one-day strike to take place on November 5th – this
will be important in building the morale of the members for the
struggle ahead.
The government are trying to build public support for their actions
– they have said that they are driving through these cuts in order to
improve the service – work that one out! How can cuts possibly improve
the service? They have said that money will be diverted from ‘wasteful’
behind the scenes work into more frontline services. They are not
telling us that for every one on the front line there has to be at
least another one behind the scenes backing them up. These cut are
designed to save money by running the service down and nothing more.
The governments plans will devastate services which every member of
society uses – anyone applying for a passport, receiving tax credits,
or sitting a driving test will suffer from these cuts. And of course
the first to suffer are the civil service workers themselves who are
right at the point of attack. If the cuts go through the employer will
be in a strong position to launch an all-out offensive on the
conditions that these workers have built up over generations of
struggle.
It is essential that the whole movement gets behind this struggle,
and gives its full support to the civil service workers. This dispute
will not be a pushover. The government has shown in the past that it is
determined to take the unions on. One way or another only an organised
and determined fight will put a stop to these plans and save the jobs.
But this struggle is also a political one. The Labour Government has
been working in the interests of the bosses for years – now they have
turned on their own workers. We have to put a stop to this now. The
unions must use this dispute to mobilise against the Tories who are
leading our party, to reclaim it and put forward socialist policies in
the interests of working people.
Victory to the civil service workers!
From the British Socialist Appeal,
November 2004
