The Tory government have had to acknowledge the key role played by PCS members in delivering vital services alongside the rest of the public sector and also low paid private sector workers and the “extraordinary efforts” we are making.
Extraordinary efforts that have been made very much more difficult as a result of the year on year cuts and under-funding that have impacted on our staffing levels and ability to deliver services. PCS reps are having to respond to the crisis management trying to undo over a decade of austerity – recruiting extra staff, trying to get decent IT equipment so that our members can work safely from home at the same time as fighting to keep our workplaces safe.
It is critical that the trade union movement clearly stand up for the working class and our communities and demand and fight for what is needed to get us through this pandemic. Mass pressure on the Tory Government can help deliver what is needed – as we have seen with widespread outcry over demands over income for workers who face the temporary or permanent loss of their jobs and income forced the government to introduce some measures. However there are still many who fall through the gaps in these measures and in many cases the Tories are letting big business off the hook who should be paying their workers.
The trade union movement should be at the forefront in developing the demands that are needed to support the working class, protect our health and safety and fully resource the services that are needed. We have had to fight hard for our private sector members in our workplaces to get the same protection and their normal pay and conditions when they are unable to be in the workplace, as our public sector members.
It is surprising to see that just at the point when our arguments about how vital the work that our members do is really hitting home, that Serwotka and co are promoting the idea that we park our key policies and instead put forward watered down demands at this time of crisis. We do not trust the Tories and their sudden commitment to public services and heaping praise on our members, to remember all this when the pandemic is over. And in any case fine words butter no parsnips.
The worries our members normally face day in day out over low pay, lack of staff, high workloads, threats to close offices and losing their jobs still remain and make it even more difficult to deliver services in the even more stressful, pressurised crisis we are working in. It should be straightforward to put forward demands to address these concerns.so that our members can focus on delivering public services.
Our union could play a key role as we did in 2011 in giving a lead and uniting public sector trade union members. A straightforward call for a 10% pay rise for all public sector workers would reduce the need for lengthy talks and recognise members are working flat out delivering vital public services despite our pay being held down for years. We need investment in full staffing levels for the public sector and the equipment that is needed to deliver services safely. Planned cuts like the office closure programme should be reversed and stopped and the threat removed recognising the fact that jobs and services are needed in local communities to deal with the coronavirus crisis but also into the future. Trade unions should be demanding that no workers furloughed or laid off during the crisis should lose their overall pay and also for a substantial rise in benefits linked to a rise in the national minimum wage to £12 per hour (£15 in London)
We cannot afford to have the leaders of our movement lining up behind the national effort and its failed leadership under Tories whose primary focus is protecting the interests of big business and not the 99% in our workplaces and communities. We need to provide a lead to the working class and articulate the demands on what is necessary to protect people and deliver the services. We cannot shy away from demanding the resources that are needed to undo the damage that decades of cuts have made to deal with this crisis but also for quality public services to deliver our vital services into the future.
PCS Broad Left Network 