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From The Socialist newspaper, 30 January 2013
DfE strike ballot
Robbie Faulds , PCS education group president, personal capacity
Members of the PCS union working in the Department for Education (DfE) are balloting for strike action, and action short of a strike, in opposition to plans to close six out of 12 offices and slash 1,000 jobs (25% of the workforce).
Education secretary Michael Gove is using the department as an ideological testbed for wider civil service cuts.
Workers are demanding the department enters meaningful negotiations over the cuts and future workloads, as well as the withdrawal of a hated performance management system, which 97% of members rejected in a ballot at the end of last year.
Union members are in no doubt that the cuts will lead to compulsory redundancies, with the department making the bulk of the cuts over the next few months and with few other civil service jobs to apply for.
Those that remain in the department will face increased workloads, and will be left to explain to the public why many of the services they relied on are no longer provided.
There is already concern that the running of the DfE has become highly politicised, with Tory donors being brought in as non-executive directors and party hacks employed as special advisors.
PCS union members in other departments have expressed their support for any possible action in the DfE, fully aware that if the cuts are forced through then similar exercises are likely to follow in other areas.
PCS members are determined to fight back against the assault, and will seek to join up any action with other education unions if at all possible.
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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
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In The Socialist 30 January 2013:
Socialist Party NHS news & campaigning
Privatisation: Bleeding the NHS dry
Heatherwood hospital campaign shows determination
East Midlands: Campaign forces retreat on ambulance station closure
Life as an NHS worker: bullying and stress
Socialist Party news and analysis
Cameron takes a gamble by threatening EU referendum
Aaron Swartz: a fight to free information
Fighting the cuts
Southampton councillors have a choice ... Don't vote for cuts!
Hull councillors ready to vote No
Brighton's Greens vote for cuts in workers' allowances
Labour meltdown in Stoke-on-Trent continues; and Unison withholds funding
Stop Sheffield children's centre closures
Workplace news and events
Twelfth day of strike action by Tyne and Wear metro cleaners
London teachers call for strike action against Performance Related Pay
Socialist Party review
Fired up by Fire in the Blood - a story of big business cruelty and neglect
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Jumping through hoops for a job
Shrewsbury 24: What is the government hiding?
Wales conference - confidence in socialist ideas
Server appeal: Members provide a huge boost to our resources
Socialist Party National Congress 2013
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