Civil servants on the minimum wage
“On 1 April, nearly a third of Revenue and Customs (HMRC) staff will receive a pay rise. This is because the minimum wage will rise to above their current pay.
“It is a travesty that HMRC, the government department responsible for enforcing the minimum wage, has become a minimum-wage employer. Unless the ideology of public sector pay restraint is beaten, things will get worse yet.
“PCS members in HMRC recognise this and have voted in unprecedented numbers to strike back, in a reballot that was necessary due to just missing the Tories’ undemocratic turnout thresholds first time around.
“No matter which major party is in power, it’s workers across all sectors that are made to pay for a crisis they didn’t cause. I’m going on strike to say: ‘We won’t bail out a failing system.’
“I’m going on strike to win – on pay, pensions, jobs, terms and conditions. Solidarity with PCS members and all workers on strike!”
JP Rosser, PCS member in HMRC
Young workers have to fight
As well as the 15 March national strike, PCS members are taking some targeted action. Workers at Ofsted are taking twelve days of rolling strike action. Pickets in Manchester talked about the high levels of agency staff, staff turnover, and the outrageous £7.95 daily fee that workers have to pay to park at the office.
A Socialist Party member in the workplace said: “As civil servants we work for the government, but without an adequate pay rise for the work we do, we’re trapped in an economic mess of the same government’s making. We younger workers have to fight tooth and nail for crumbs off the plate. But landlords have given themselves a 20% ‘pay’ rise per tenant and nobody’s batted an eyelid.”
Fund schools properly
“We are striking because we would like the government to make a reasonable pay offer to reward our members for all the hard work that they do, and to help with the increasing cost of living. We would also like the government to fund education properly so we don’t have to fight over resources and scrabble around for materials.
“Our members are really angry because we do not feel respected. This is not helped by the media trying to portray us as not wanting to work during the pandemic. Many of our members put themselves at personal risk teaching vulnerable children during the pandemic.
“We have lots of public support, and support from parents as well, who understand this is a strike for the future education of their children.”
Ayesha, NEU member in Waltham Forest, north east London
Schools first ever picket line
On 2 March I stood on a picket line with a teacher in her first year of teaching whose rent has gone up by 20%. She is struggling to get by in one of the most expensive cities in Britain. And beside her was a teacher who is retiring at the end of this academic year, and is unlikely to benefit much from an improved pay deal, but is prepared to take a stand for the future of the teaching profession. Both were appalled by the government’s refusal to get into talks about funding as well as pay.
Just one reason for striking is the fact that there is a clear correlation between the 20% real-terms pay cut over the last twelve years and the fact that the government is missing its recruitment target for next year by 40%. This will put a strain on everyone and degrade educational standards across the board.
We are not just striking to get a better pay deal for ourselves, but to improve pay, conditions and funding for the whole education system, for education workers and students alike, for next year and beyond.
And it is clear that, far from valuing education and educators, this government looks on teachers with utter disdain.
So, we set up the first-ever picket line at our school and had almost 20 teachers join us. They all sensed that we are in a new phase and that the outcome of this strike could determine the future of the education system in Britain for years to come. There was a defiant mood and plans were made to continue the fight by marching in London on 15 March.
Stephen, NEU member
Passengers deserve safety, and workers deserve decent pay and pensions
“I am a worker on the railway who drives a train in London. I work in the east end of London and am a third-generation Underground worker. I am a member of the RMT rail union. As a Londoner I am proud of my city, and as a commuter I want to feel safe. I am a faithful servant of London Underground and I do not want to have to go on strike!
“During the Covid pandemic, the world held its breath when key workers kept society running. Rail workers on the front line died. We were afforded the status of ‘key workers’. We were deemed indispensable and even afforded hero-like status. We are not heroes but members of the working class, who are highly trained. We keep London moving and contribute to the great wealth generated in London. Were it not for our efforts, and the efforts of other workers, the business of our city would cease.
“Passengers on the London Underground deserve the highest levels of safety, and workers deserve a decent wage and pension, which is in fact deferred wages after the worker finishes work. A working life that is dedicated in large part to unsocial hours, which has been proven to shorten life expectancy.
“As a reward, rail workers have been awarded a series of attacks on our terms and conditions. These attacks have taken place throughout our industry, including on London Underground.
“The station grades have seen an initial 600 job cuts. The travelling public was told that the closure of ticket offices would result in more visible and accessible staff, but these staffing numbers have now been slashed.
“Far from the ‘king’s ransom’ the bosses report our pension to be, at present it will enable workers to retire without being in dire straits. Now workers with 20 years’ service risk seeing the rug being pulled from under their feet, potentially contributing more for much less upon retirement.
“Workers who previously crossed picket lines have had enough of the attacks on pensions and terms and conditions. At the time of writing, Aslef drivers’ union has called strike action on 15 March as well.
“We have no option but to strike. See you on the picket line!”
RMT tube driver continued here
Junior doctors propping up the system
“As a junior doctor in 2016 I was faced with no choice but to strike. We were buoyed by the support we received from other unions, including a delegation to our picket line in Poole from the Communication Workers Union conference!
“Now as a specialty doctor I am not eligible to strike, but I stand fully in support and solidarity with the junior doctors in their dispute. They have faced unprecedented levels of debt due to ever-rising student fees and cuts to the NHS bursary, and are working increasingly hard to prop up a system that has been decimated by more than a decade of Tory austerity.
“Like many other healthcare workers, the junior doctors have been left with no choice but to take industrial action. The ballot results show the strength of feeling in the profession and I hope the health secretary gets round the table soon for a swift and successful resolution for staff and patients alike.”
Clare Blackwell, Doctor in Dorset
Universities rely on exploitation
“At first sight, it may seem like I do not have any good reasons to strike. As an academic with a research grant paid by the EU, I have a relatively good salary, get to travel to attend conferences and give guest lectures, and my working conditions are flexible.
“I strike out of solidarity with my colleagues, who face the cost-of-living crisis and real-terms pay cuts while trying to manage impossible workloads and expectations from university authorities. I strike because I fail to comprehend how the education of students, who pay close to £10,000 a year, can rely on exploiting postgraduate students and academics on fixed-term contracts, or crappy teaching contracts that do not pay any money during holidays.
“I also strike for myself. The higher education system normalises fixed-term contracts, thanks to which I have moved countries three times in the last decade to chase jobs that would only last me two to three years. It also normalises working overtime, on weekends and even during annual leave, to produce publications in a rating system that pits academics against each other and destroys the spirit of collaboration. It destroys our self-worth so that people like me are ready to accept any scraps just to avoid unemployment. Not to mention the near impossibility of starting a family and crippling anxiety about the future – it is not clear what my pension will look like after working on various types of contracts and none, in four different countries.
“This is the result of the marketisation of higher education. We need to fight for a socialist education system that would make education free for all and make science work for the benefit of society, not for the profit of capitalists.”
Joanna Chojnicka, UCU member in Cardiff
