Car parks stood empty, phones rang unanswered, mail lay unopened. The
first two days of the PCS strike in the North East has received strong support
among its members; the stoic mood on the picket line failed to prevent smiles
reaching across workers faces as passing cars honked their horns outside
Sunderland’s HMRC call centre and pedestrians voiced their support at
Newcastle’s city centre Jobcentre Plus – but there were not a few pursed lips
also, as the scale of the struggle to come began to sink in and thoughts turned
to how to pay bills, keep children clothed and cars running. Monday’s rally in
the centre of Newcastle allowed representatives from UNISON and the RMT to
speak of their support also; some onlookers wondered what the fuss was, others
nodded in approval as the civil servants held the line against the front men of
the bankers.
Though PCS stands alone in this fight to defend public sector jobs
for now, a new parliament will bring a fresh campaign from the political
representatives of capital, which in its turn will bring a generalised struggle
across the public sector. Until then, we ready ourselves for the next round of
action and use a little less milk in our tea, turn the heating off a little
earlier in the evening. We’ll be doing this ever more as the fight intensifies,
but we have no intention of backing down.
