PCS Union Members Set To Strike

In a ballot over pay 54% of UK Public And Commercial Services Union members have voted to strike.

From the BBC news site:

General secretary Mark Serwotka said a quarter of civil servants earned less than £16,500 per year, with thousands paid just above the minimum wage.

"The government's policy of capping public sector pay has hit some of the lowest paid in the public sector the hardest, leading to real terms pay cuts and pay freezes," he said.

"The hard-working people who keep this country running, from passports, immigration and justice, to coastguards, tax and Jobcentres, face increasing financial hardship because of the pay cap.

"Pay freezes and real term pay cuts are simply not sustainable when you are earning a pittance and experiencing double digit rises in food, fuel and housing costs.

"Bailing out bankers should not be at the expense of those who deliver public services or those who rely on them."

This is a good opportunity for workers to show that they will not be the fall guys for the shambles brought about by corporate and individual greed aided and abetted by supine governments and toothless regulators. It is a shame, however, that there is not to be co-ordinated action across the public sector as our strength is in unity and numbers. This unity in action and breakdown of barriers between sectors, occupations and industries is something that British Wobblies will continue to fight for, both as dual-carders within TUC unions and as members of the fighting alternative that is the international IWW.