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From The Socialist newspaper, 25 October 2017
Trade unionists march to defend 650 local jobs
PCS contingent on the 1.7.17 People's Assembly demo, photo JB (Click to enlarge)
Mark Emmerson, Teesside Socialist Party
Members of the civil service union PCS, Fire Brigades Union, Communication Workers Union, general unions GMB and Unite and public sector union Unison attended a march and rally organised by the Northern Trade Union Congress (NTUC) and the local PCS branches.
The event, held on Stockton High Street on 21 October, was organised in response to the government's proposals to strip 650 civil service jobs out of the heart of Teesside, an area that has already seen thousands of jobs lost as part of the failed austerity plan led by the Tories and the coalition before that.
The event was also used as part of the wider campaign to smash the public sector pay cap.
Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, Clare Williams, Unison regional secretary, Rehana Adam, GMB, Davie Howe, FBU and Beth Farhat, NTUC regional secretary, spoke alongside local Labour MPs.
The plan to close the tax offices in Stockton and Middlesbrough is part of the Tories' wider plan to close hundreds of tax offices across the UK and concentrate operations in a handful of larger offices.The impact will leave many local communities bereft of quality jobs and a massive loss of income into the local communities where PCS members live and work.
PCS believes that as a result of these plans, it will be much more difficult to tackle the £120 billion tax gap, money desperately needed to fund other public services.
PCS members will also be impacted as thousands of jobs losses are expected and those that stay will be required to travel to new locations adding excessive hours per day in extra travelling, and at their own expense. PCS members in Stockton will lose £400 a month and travel an extra two hours each way to attend their job, a job that many have dedicated their lives to as they serve the public!
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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.
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In The Socialist 25 October 2017:
What we think
Socialists must back Catalan struggle for self-determination
Women
1967 Abortion Act reflected social changes
International socialist news and analysis
Kurdish referendum declared illegal
Socialist Party news and analysis
Universal Credit chaos: Tories punish the poor
Fearful Tories mull borrowing to build
Kids wait 18 months for mental healthcare
Profit-driven pesticide use now threatens life
Profiteering NHS counter-fraud firm in alleged case of... fraud
Workplace news and analysis
Aslef members must reject poor Southern Rail offer
Arriva North West bus drivers strike over pay
NSSN meeting brings together workers in struggle
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Hear from socialists involved in struggles the world over at the Socialism 2017 Saturday rally
Angry east London residents organise against threat to leisure centre
Trade unionists march to defend 650 local jobs
Storm Brian cannot withstand working-class anger
Socialist readers' comments and reviews
Well-deserved ridicule of Stalinism is impressive, funny but flawed
Film - Dennis Skinner: Nature of the Beast
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