The Strike - In Which Kelza Gets Political
Despite the less-than-ideal weather, I actually got some joy with the picket lines! The PCS (Public and Commercial Services Union) were outside the Job Centre and Inland Revenue in St Helens this morning since half seven, so I had a chance to interview them before they made the pilgrimage to Liverpool, like local NUT members, to attend a regional rally.
Opinions amongst the PCS members I spoke to were just the same. They wanted to make it clear that, despite the claims of the government and right-wing media who are awfully selective in what they choose to tell the public, public sector workers such as civil servants and teachers don't get huge pensions for their troubles.
Nor do they get these fat-cat wages. Did you know that some of the people working at the Job Centre have to claim themselves? And did you know that some current claimants of JSA (Job Seeker's Allowance) are actually ex-civil servants who were either laid off or left thinking they could get better paid work elsewhere?
The reality is that public sector workers haven't just had to suffer these pension reforms. These reforms come on top of a pay freeze that, if effective for ten years, means that their payment wil be effectively halved. Some workers haven't had a pay rise in 7 years. Wages have been cut as well, with the minimum lopped off being 10%.
All of this comes with inflation and interest rates going up, job losses because of massive cuts to employee numbers in offices or out-and-out closure. Some are reporting that the mobility clause in their employment contract is being scrapped - it's bad enough that they're being sent to work an hour away (which means two hours' travel each day) - the scrapping of the mobility clause could mean people being sent two, maybe even three hours away for work.
Workers with disabilities used to get an extra few days they could take off, on top of the usual eight that all employees get - the severity of their condition meant they'd get more or less extra days accordingly because let's face it, if you have MS or osteo-arthritis you never know when one day it'll act up and render you incapable for the day. Well, this leeway for workers with disabilities is out of the window now, and there are rumours that the obligatory eight days will be going down to seven, which means less time off each year.
With the number of employees dropping, the workload is bring spread across even fewer people. The individual now has more on his or her plate. And targets in the workplace are continually going up - people are having more and more to do. With the retirement age going up to 68 on top of this - is it any wonder people are striking? All of this will culminate in a stressed, overworked workforce that barely has the time to do what it needs to do - deal with the customer, be they a benefits claimant or a student, and deliver the best possible service. And these workers will retire after twenty or thirty years with a pension of 4 - 7k. It simply isn't enough.
Now, then. The government. The PCS have taken them to court twice in the last twelve months. Both times, the High Court ruled that by reforming pensions without bringing the proper figures to the negotiating table, and indeed doing so with this 'we say, you do' attitude that seems to be running rampant in parliament, the government was acting illegally.
They've taken advantage of selective media sources, lying by omission to convince the public that public sector workers are acting up selfishly - that after the private sector has already felt the blow of pension reforms, the public sector has had the gall to demand different treatment. The reality is that these pension reforms are just the latest in a line of crippling changes made to pensions, wages and employment contracts in the public sector - changes that probably weren't made in the private sector, or at least weren't publicised in order to preserve the tatters of the ConDem's so-called 'benevolent' face.
The government have also neglected one final, crucial fact. These reforms will have repercussions everywhere. Unions aren't striking today just because of the indignation about pensions. At the end of the day, it boils down to the government stripping away their ability to do what they're employed to do - provide an excellent, caring service to the Great British public.
Opinions amongst the PCS members I spoke to were just the same. They wanted to make it clear that, despite the claims of the government and right-wing media who are awfully selective in what they choose to tell the public, public sector workers such as civil servants and teachers don't get huge pensions for their troubles.
Nor do they get these fat-cat wages. Did you know that some of the people working at the Job Centre have to claim themselves? And did you know that some current claimants of JSA (Job Seeker's Allowance) are actually ex-civil servants who were either laid off or left thinking they could get better paid work elsewhere?
The reality is that public sector workers haven't just had to suffer these pension reforms. These reforms come on top of a pay freeze that, if effective for ten years, means that their payment wil be effectively halved. Some workers haven't had a pay rise in 7 years. Wages have been cut as well, with the minimum lopped off being 10%.
All of this comes with inflation and interest rates going up, job losses because of massive cuts to employee numbers in offices or out-and-out closure. Some are reporting that the mobility clause in their employment contract is being scrapped - it's bad enough that they're being sent to work an hour away (which means two hours' travel each day) - the scrapping of the mobility clause could mean people being sent two, maybe even three hours away for work.
Workers with disabilities used to get an extra few days they could take off, on top of the usual eight that all employees get - the severity of their condition meant they'd get more or less extra days accordingly because let's face it, if you have MS or osteo-arthritis you never know when one day it'll act up and render you incapable for the day. Well, this leeway for workers with disabilities is out of the window now, and there are rumours that the obligatory eight days will be going down to seven, which means less time off each year.
With the number of employees dropping, the workload is bring spread across even fewer people. The individual now has more on his or her plate. And targets in the workplace are continually going up - people are having more and more to do. With the retirement age going up to 68 on top of this - is it any wonder people are striking? All of this will culminate in a stressed, overworked workforce that barely has the time to do what it needs to do - deal with the customer, be they a benefits claimant or a student, and deliver the best possible service. And these workers will retire after twenty or thirty years with a pension of 4 - 7k. It simply isn't enough.
Now, then. The government. The PCS have taken them to court twice in the last twelve months. Both times, the High Court ruled that by reforming pensions without bringing the proper figures to the negotiating table, and indeed doing so with this 'we say, you do' attitude that seems to be running rampant in parliament, the government was acting illegally.
They've taken advantage of selective media sources, lying by omission to convince the public that public sector workers are acting up selfishly - that after the private sector has already felt the blow of pension reforms, the public sector has had the gall to demand different treatment. The reality is that these pension reforms are just the latest in a line of crippling changes made to pensions, wages and employment contracts in the public sector - changes that probably weren't made in the private sector, or at least weren't publicised in order to preserve the tatters of the ConDem's so-called 'benevolent' face.
The government have also neglected one final, crucial fact. These reforms will have repercussions everywhere. Unions aren't striking today just because of the indignation about pensions. At the end of the day, it boils down to the government stripping away their ability to do what they're employed to do - provide an excellent, caring service to the Great British public.