Civil service strikers say PCS union must step up action

PCS strikers on the picket line in London (Picture: Guy Smallman)

More than 33,000 extra civil servants joined the strike on Wednesday since they were last all out together on 1 February.

Workers in the HMRC tax office were by far the largest single group to be out for the first time. Simon, an HMRC striker in Leeds told Socialist Worker, “It’s been a good morning with a good turnout. It’s not just the reps that are here, we’ve got members too.”

He added that, together with strikers from other government departments in the building, there were 41 people on the picket line.

Civil service workers in the Prospect union were also out for the first time on Wednesday too. They stood on picket lines alongside PCS members.

James, a Prospect member at the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs in central London told Socialist Worker, “It’s quite exciting actually. There’s a feeling of camaraderie and solidarity.”

For most of the other civil service workers, Wednesday’s walkout was their second big strike. Early signs were that it has been just as well supported as the previous one on 1 February.

Kate, who works for the Department for Work and Pensions, was on a jobcentre picket line in Oxford. “We’ve got a big picket line here and we’ve managed to turn some people away on the picket line too,” she said.

On some picket lines, civil service strikers were also talking about what the future of their strike should look like. Sarah, who works for the Independent Office for Police Co nduct, said, “We have people out now who didn’t picket before.”

She added, “We’ve been talking about what escalation means. There is a general awareness that one day strikes are quite tricky—it’s difficult to have a big gap between two one day strikes, and it doesn’t necessarily help people. Today’s a very important day but it cannot be our last.”

John, another PCS striker there, added, “We’ve got to remember this government is so week—so many U-turns. The only thing we have to look out for is division, as we’ve seen with the refugee stuff.

“I think the future is escalation, and to me that means more disruption and more strikes.”

Dan, a striker at the Home Office in central London, told Socialist Worker, “We’re about to have another strike ballot. I want that ballot to be used. We’ve had two strikes in six months and we’ve missed some key dates, such as chances to be striking with Royal Mail workers at Christmas.

But, he added, “We’ve really gained a lot of members activists during this campaign. We need to be having more conversations with PCS members every day, we need to recruit more.

“Are we able to make this a turnaround for the trade union movement and show that we can do something?”