‘We’ve had just as strong support today as we had for the first day of the strike,’ a Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) spokesman told News Line yesterday.
Over 800,000 PCS members were out for the second day at Jobcentres, benefit offices, pension centres and the Child Support Agency over deteriorating service levels and 30,000 planned job cuts in the Department for Work and Pensions.
The PCS spokesman added to News Line: ‘Offices were closed around the country and the few offices that were open gave very little service if any at all.
‘We are open to settle the dispute through negotiations but should that not be forthcoming, further strike action is likely.’
On the picket line yesterday morning at Harrow Job Centre, Brent, Harrow and Hillingdon Department of Work and Pensions PCS branch secretary Teresa Raferty told News Line: ‘The government are not listening, they are pushing through with job cuts.
‘In London, because of the ethnic mix of the population it affects minority groups more harshly.
‘Eighty per cent of the workforce at this job centre are from minority groups, mostly Asian.
‘We have a Contact Centre here earmarked for closure.
‘On this section, the staff speak 23 different languages and the work will go to Wales or Belfast where they can’t speak so many languages.
‘Then the department will have to go to a privatised language telephone line for translation purposes – which will cost a fortune – rather than using our staff.
‘After months of talks the government will not give us a no compulsory redundancy guarantee, so if the contact centre closes 80 staff will lose their jobs.’
John Rattray, secretary of Harrow Trades Union Council, joined the picket line.
He said: ‘The Trades Council will continue to support striking workers despite the anti union laws.
‘The trade union movement is at war with the Labour government and the trades council will be at the forefront of this struggle.
‘That is a pledge to our brothers and sisters in Harrow and beyond.’
‘We are proud to bring our new banner to this picket line which we took to the Workers Memorial and May Day on Monday. We need a general strike to defend pensions, the NHS and to remove the restrictions on trade union rights.’