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Taxing Times for Inland Revenue Strikers

Joe Hill | 01.08.2006 19:51 | Social Struggles | Workers' Movements | Liverpool | South Coast

Tax offices in Bootle, Glasgow, Newcastle, Salford, Wrexham, Cardiff, Portsmouth, Leicester, Bradford and Edinburgh were closed yesterday as up to 8,000 workers came out on strike against plans to make them fill in forms accounting for each hour they work.



In Bootle, almost 700 workers at the Revenue and Customs office in Bootle walked out, with only twenty scabs crossing the picket line.

The workers are protesting over plans to make them fill in forms accounting for each hour they work. They claim it will lead to excessive monitoring of staff, de-skilling and exposure to repetitive strain injury.

The 24-hour action is expected to be the first of a summer of disruption by the civil servants.

Tony Robertson, Merseyside general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), said: "This is all over the new management system which makes staff account for what they do every hour. It takes a lot for mild-mannered civil servants to go out on strike but this has made everyone incredibly angry and caused a lot of stress and pressure. It has made people who have worked here twenty and thirty years very despondent."

They feel the system is bearing down on them, at a time when the government is forcing through over 100,000 redundancies in the civil service.

"We thought we had an agreement ten days ago but they withdrew their offer. We want them to discuss this with us in a sensible way.

"This is not what we wanted to happen. Many of the workers at Bootle are on a modest wage and losing a day's pay is not something we would agree to lightly. But I fear this could go on throughout the summer."

The PCS said more than 8,000 staff had walked out nationally but the government department insisted the figure was nearer 4,000 and called the action "unwarranted".

A spokesman for Revenue and Customs said: "We are very disappointed with the PCS decision to reinstate industrial action having initially called it off.

"We regard this action as unnecessary and unwarranted and will do all we can to minimise disruption. All significant personnel issues have been successfully negotiated with the union. However, there remain three issues in dispute that would fundamentally affect our ability to manage effectively."

Joe Hill
- Homepage: http://www.pcs.org.uk/

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Comments

Hide the following 5 comments

Do they expect support?

02.08.2006 22:17

So are we expected to support these tax collectors?

The very ppl who turn over our taxes to fund the arms industry and the goverments illeagal and imoral wars.

Like the police strike this is one to sit back and laugh at in my book - 20 scabs? They are all servants of the state - and therefore will not gain my support - Tax collectors = state pimps.

My enemies enemy is still not a friend to me

(A)

PUK


Why the fuss?

03.08.2006 22:49

It sounds like these workers are being expected to fill in timesheets to account for what they were doing during the day, or week. This is perfectly normal practice in many jobs and has been for decades in most office jobs. I can imagine that this could present a difficulty for staff who have very little to do, as is the case with many public sector staff who were recruited by useless managers with no idea how to run an office efficiently and with regard to costs of labour.

simon


We should support them!

04.08.2006 18:37

Yes, they are 'The very ppl who turn over our taxes to fund the arms industry and the goverments illeagal and imoral wars'. So if they stopped, what would happen to the government?

Exactly the same goes for prison guards, police and soldiers.

And Simon, all your comments on here suggest that you have no interest in what we're talking about, yet you still post here! Admit it, part of you wants to believe in something other than efficiency of the market...

Ad Nauseam


Exactly

04.08.2006 20:37

So if they stopped, what would happen to the government?

Good bye - fair well

End of

Bliss


Billy


Cruel Remarks

09.08.2006 01:25

These workers are not on massive wages, and until we come up with a gradual solution to the capatalist system, we will need tax collectors, and ought not to be tarring them all with the one brush.

The tax collectors are not sitting around offices allocating your wages to go to pay for a bunker buster bomb - every person commentating on Indymedia is linked to the system whether they buck against it or not.

Jesus made a point of mixing with the tax collectors. You don't have to be a Christian to get the point of why he or anyone else looking to change things might do such a thing.

Eyes Higher


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