PCS REPS on the picket line in Newport expressed their anger at the imposed below-inflation pay increase.
Members working on the evening shift are losing their extra allowance for working unsocial hours so will have even more of a real pay cut.
One of the reps said she thought it was bad under Thatcher but this government is just as bad. She was due to get £172 increase in pay but the new tax changes announced in the budget mean that she will have to pay an extra £172.99 in tax so won’t even get any pay increase at all!
This is at the same time that inflation is running at 4.4% and bills and cost of living are going up.
Whilst Passports and Defence PCS members were on strike, Gordon Brown is pushing to enforce further below-inflation pay restraint on all public-sector workers.
So we have a battle on our hands to fight for a decent pay increase for this year, as well as to increase the pressure on the government for a return to national pay scales.
