THE government’s policy of mass sackings of civil servants, of driving down their wages, and of outsourcing and privatisation has driven civil servants to decide to take one day official strike action on Wednesday January 31.
61.3 per cent of members voted for strike action. A direct response to the government’s drive to cut 100,000 civil and public service jobs, and slash pay with below inflation pay awards.
Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, commented: ‘This overwhelming vote in favour of industrial action illustrates the depth of anger amongst the government’s own workforce against crude job cuts and below inflation pay offers. Patience has worn thin with services suffering as a result of job cuts, billions being spent on private sector consultants and some of the lowest paid facing a pay cut in real terms.’
He called for ‘the management of the civil service to get around the table with us again and discuss our concerns.’
Government and management will be ready for more discussions over the concerns of the civil servants, but only as a tactic for attempting to get the strike action postponed.
Serwotka should in fact be demanding that the rest of the trade union movement take strike action alongside the civil servants on January 31 since every worker in the country is facing the same threats.
TGWU leader Woodley speaking at the Central Halls, Westminster, Public Services rally yesterday said: ‘We are not going to sit back and watch the increasing privatisation of our public services by this government.’
However this is precisely what the trade union leaders have been doing – sitting back and watching Labour’s mass sackings and privatisation drive including the privatisation of NHS Logistics.
Woodley added: ‘We are not prepared to see the same attacks again under a Labour government, even if they call it Marketisation or Contestability rather than privatisation.’
He continued to slam the City Academies privatisation programme for education and the way that the NHS was being put under the heel of profiteering private companies.
He commented: ‘Who would have thought only a few years ago that a private company would be running GP services? But Barking & Dagenham PCT have signed a £5 million deal with a private company to provide GP services to 7,000 patients. So we now have private firms running hospitals and doctor services.’
So what did the leader of the TGWU propose to do to stop this privatising government? The answer is nothing!
He ended his speech with a barrage of hot air: ‘It’s time to kick private profit out of the public sector and safeguard our services for future generations. Let’s put need before greed – united and fighting back we can win.
‘I pledge the support of the T&G for this great campaign.’
There is no great campaign, just a few lobbies of parliament. The trade union leaders refused to use the strength of the working class to halt the privatisation of NHS Logistics and now they are watching an avalanche of hospital closures and mass sackings develop.
Millions of trade unionists must demand action not pathetic words to defeat Blair and Brown.
They must demand that all trade unions come out on January 31 in a one day general strike against mass sackings and privatisation.
Trade unionists in the localities must take action and form Councils of Action to rally entire communities to occupy hospitals to stop the NHS cuts and closures programme.
This mass movement must be the driving force for an indefinite general strike to bring down the Blair-Brown government and bring in a workers’ government to carry out socialist policies.
It must also be the driving force to evict the present pathetic reformist trade union leaders. The time for action is here. And action is a million times stronger than Woodley’s hot air words.
