PCS members in action, photo Paul Mattsson (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)
50 PCS members walked out of the DWP administrative site at Annesley, Nottinghamshire for a lunchtime protest on 7 April. The site is threatened with closure, putting 130 jobs at risk. As PCS rep Dani Harvey explained, three quarters of these workers are women and many are part-time. They can’t just relocate to another DWP site miles away when they have children to take to and from school, sometimes at short notice. Many have partners who work away already so they have extra care responsibilities. A PCS member told the Socialist: “If this is how the DWP treats its own workers, what message does it give unemployed people who are looking for work?” Eight other administrative sites and many smaller Jobcentres around the country are also threatened with closure, but the mood of those at the protest was determination to fight to defend their jobs.
