Members protest against ripping up of terms and conditions and pledge solidarity with European strikers on #N14

Today PCS members in the London Passport Office took part in a protest outside their office to highlight the ripping up of their terms and conditions.  The protest was organised by the Branch Executive Committee following a call to arms from the Civil Service Rank and File Network.  Members also wanted to show solidarity with all the workers striking against austerity measures across Europe.

With people taking their lunch break at different times we staggered the protest over a 2 hour period so as many could get involved as possible.  This necessarily meant that not everyone who took part did so at the same time.  However in total the turnout was excellent and it sends a strong message to the government that members providing a vital public service want to do so with good terms and conditions.

Protests also took place in other branches and workplaces within PCS ahead of a full blown day of action planned for November 30th which should see protests in every branch.  As one branch official put it “Today members here were the leaders of the union, now we need to prepare for the next stage”.  In preparing for the November 30th protests this branch is also calling on the national union to organise industrial action before the end of the year.

The protest also gave reps the opportunity to spread the word on exactly how vengeful the current attacks on terms are.  We are undoubtedly seeing an ideological attack based around driving down terms ready for privatisation.  This must be resisted by the maximum number of members possible and we hope that everyone will get involved in that resistance.

Finally we want to praise everyone involved with the strikes across Europe, protest action in the civil service and at crossrail today.  Every act of resistance needs to be praised and supported no matter how small.  Where we need to build for bolder and harder action let’s get the work done.

Related articles

• Why we are striking against austerity in Europe | The panel (guardian.co.uk)