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Defend jobs: Defend the CSCS

The countdown to the next general election has now started in earnest with the cost of public services being debated widely. Unfortunately all the mainstream political parties are now taking the chance to blame civil servants and other public sector workers for the woes caused by the global banking crisis.

Our union has repeatedly said that our members are the victims of the economic downturn, not the cause of it. However members should look at some of the recent comments made by the three main parties and ask themselves why they will now be asked to pay the price for others mistakes.

  • Liam Fox, the Conservative shadow defence secretary outlined his priorities for defence. He asked why “the military seems consistently to shrink while the civil service keeps growing?” According to the DASA statistics, the Ministry of Defence civil service population has shrunk from 266,000 to 69,000 in the period 1975-2008, a drop of 197,000. In the corresponding period, the service figures have gone from 338,000 to 187,000, a drop of 151,000. Not only is Mr Fox wrong in his assertion, but the MoD civilian workforce has as you can see already been cut by almost three quarters in less than 35 years. Our union did agree with one statement Mr Fox made – “You can delegate authority, but not responsibility. Labour Ministers are to blame for the failings at the Ministry of Defence - not the Civil Service or the Armed forces.” – we are not to blame, and should the Conservatives form the next government, we will be asking Mr Fox and his party to honour this statement by not seeking to push the blame onto civil servants.
  • Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat treasury spokesperson laid out their public sector plans at their party conference. He talked about “too many unaffordable defence commitments” and further advocated freezing public sector pay and abandoning civil service bonuses. Our union will welcome any move to get rid of bonus schemes in the civil service, but not in conjunction with pay freezes! Rather than looking to improve pension provisions across the board, he advocated a race to the bottom as he talked of “very generous subsidised public sector pensions which desperately need reform” whilst “occupational pensions in private firms have been cut to shreds.” Our union will make no apology for fighting to retain our existing pension rights.
  • At the TUC, prime minister, Gordon Brown admitted that a re-elected Labour government would also pursue a policy of public sector cuts, though he didn’t go into detail as to where they would be. However, the experiences of the current labour government has taught us to expect the worst and we won’t be disappointed!

The current proposals to slash the entitlements in the civil service compensation scheme (CSCS) will allow any of the three parties to cut tens of thousands of posts in the future on the cheap. Whoever wins the next election will be seeking an onslaught on civil service jobs in MoD and that the cuts to the CSCS are preparing the ground for any job cuts. After all cutting the CSCS won't save a penny until staff are made redundant.

Please make your views on the CSCS known now. You should respond to the consultation by emailing the cabinet office at pensionspr@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk. Please copy PCS your reply at cscs@pcs.org.uk

In 2005, the government agreed a deal with our union to honour our existing pensions with a new scheme (the best in the public service) put in place for new entrants. At the very least, the same should happen with the CSCS.

In the Ministry of Defence, we are currently organising a number of workplace meetings so that you can get the latest news and have a chance to air your views. Please come along to your workplace meeting. Full details of all these meetings will be published shortly. If your area does not have a meeting organised and you would like one, please contact Dougie Brownlie at noobin66@hotmail.com or call on 07931 342011 or Mike Jones at mikej@pcs.org.uk or call on 07748 003402.

 

 

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