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HMRC

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From: The Socialist issue 817, 2 July 2014: End low pay - fight until we win

Search site for keywords: Strike - Ministry of Justice - HMRC - PCS - Privatisation - Land Registry - Unite - Newport - Leicester

Workplace news in brief

PCS action stops sell-off

Although we are still awaiting for the official Government response to the consultation into proposed Land Registry privatisation, workers have been informed that privatisation will not be happening within this term of government.

A report in the Mail on Sunday however, indicates that business minister Vince Cable may go further and scrap privatisation plans altogether. The Mail article also made a clear and unambiguous link between the government climb down and the PCS union campaign, in particular, the 48-hour strike in May. What this shows is that campaigning works and action gets results.

While we wait to examine the full details of the government report, to ensure that privatisation is definitely off the agenda, our priority is now to secure agreements around no office closures, no compulsory redundancies and no outsourcing of our members' work.

Dave Lunn, vice president, PCS Land Registry group

Pathologists

Biomedical scientists working for Northampton General Hospital have voted by 83% for strike action and action short of strike in response to attacks on terms and conditions.

The Unite members have 90 days to sign new contracts or be sacked. The new contracts will see workers forced to double their night time shifts from seven days in 14 weeks to 14 days in 14 weeks while out-of-hours payments are slashed by 8%. Members face losing £6,000 a year.

The hospital trust is spending up to £1 million a year on eight locum pathologists - more than double any possible saving from the changes.

HMRC action continues

HMRC strike in Leicester, 26 June 2014 (Click to enlarge)

HMRC members in the Midlands were on strike on Thursday 26 June as part of our rolling regional week of action in the jobs and staffing campaign.

HMRC is refusing to consult meaningfully with the union on massive job cuts and privatisation across the country. By next year HMRC will have halved in size since 2005 while the "tax gap" continues to grow.

We have the closure of enquiry centres, forcing people onto an already failing telephone system that answered only one of ten calls on 31 July last year, for example.

The department is also persisting with an unpopular and discredited performance management system.

Alex Morgan, assistant branch secretary, PCS HMRC Leicester branch

Ministry of Justice

Hundreds of PCS members in the Ministry of Justice took strike action in Newport and Bootle against privatisation on Monday 30 June.

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Finance appeal

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.