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Machete attack linked to government cuts says union

3 February 2006

PCS has reacted with alarm to the stabbing of a Jobcentre Plus employee at Washwood Heath Jobcentre in Birmingham and has linked the savage attack directly to the effects that job cuts are having on the services of those using the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The stabbing occurred after a claimant who had entered the Jobcentre was refused a face-to-face interview and was instead referred to a telephone to contact the DWP's call centre. At this point the customer produced a machete and assaulted the member of staff, who the union understands is seriously injured in hospital.

Commenting, PCS President Janice Godrich, who also works in the DWP, said; "We totally condemn this assault and our sympathy is with the member of staff attacked. However, we believe this sort of incident is only avoidable if jobcentres are properly staffed. Since the introduction of the modernisation programme, which will see 30,000 jobs going in three years, we have already seen a 62% rise in violence against those working in the DWP."

Commenting, Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary said; "80,000 PCS members took strike action last week to protect the services provided by the DWP in the face of massive job cuts. We once again call on the government to halt the job cuts and to take stock of the impact on service delivery and particularly the impact on those who use the service, many of who are among the most vulnerable in society."


 

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