Link to this page: http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/524/3879
From The Socialist newspaper, 12 March 2008
Coastguards strike
The PCS picket line at Swansea's coastguard station in the Mumbles may have had the most stunning backdrop ever; rolling waves crashing against the cliffs, but the determined mood and anger of the strikers matched any industrial dispute! Alec Thraves spoke to the strikers:
"We are on strike against the government's public-sector pay policy but also because we believe our work is equivalent to other emergency services that get paid a great deal more than us. The government-commissioned pay comparability studies over the past few years have all said the same thing, that our pay needs to be increased alongside other emergency services but as yet every single one of them has been ignored.
"We've never been on strike before in our 180-year history but everyone has just had enough and we want fair pay. Some of our members actually had a pay increase a few months ago because management was paying them less than the legal minimum wage!
"Amongst union members we have got 100% support for our one-day strike with just a couple of non-union members going in. We are determined to win this strike and hope the public will fully back us up when they realise the poverty pay our coastguards are trying to survive on."
The front page article of the Socialist reporting on PCS members' battle against the government's pay freeze was particularly welcomed with five out of the six pickets buying a copy.
Why not click here to join the Socialist Party, or click here to donate to the Socialist Party.
In The Socialist 12 March 2008:
Iraq, Afghanistan: The bitter fruits of war and occupation
US & UK students in anti-war protest
Workplace news and analysis
Land Registry votes to reject pay offer
Wales further education pay dispute: Vote 'yes' in strike ballot
Shelter workers' strike success
Prison officers reject pay offer
Socialist Party NHS campaign
Derby nurses fight PFI pay cuts
Hospital trusts... who makes the decisions?
Cuts continue despite financial surpluses
Post Office closures
Stroud - Save our post office!
Socialist Party feature
World's poor hit by rocketing food prices
International socialist news
New period of workers' militancy in Germany
Socialist Party review
Profit motive and the whispering wind
Home | The Socialist 12 March 2008 | Join the Socialist Party
Join us today!
Printable version
email to friend
