Civil Servants go on Strike

York and North Yorkshire were disrupted as hundreds of civil servants striked on what was of one of the biggest weeks of industrial action to hit in years.

Thousands of benefit claimants including single parents and pensioners were affected by the 48-hour strike on March 3rd.

Nearly four hundred of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) members who work for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) took part in a two-day strike. The dispute is over the below-inflation pay rise and will see only 20% of the workforce turning into work.

North Yorkshire DWP PCS branch secretary said: “PCS members are right to feel angry and devalued by a departmental and Government culture that uses civil service pay as inflationary measure, especially when there is no evidence to suggest that our pay fuels inflation.

“Our members have become victims of misdirected economic restraints that have only served to increase hardship on our lowest paid, seeing those with children often needing to rely on tax credits to support their earnings and the majority of staff needing to meet the steep cost of living rises we have all experienced for basics such as bread, milk, petrol and housing costs on as little as £1.50 extra a day.”

Later in the week York railway workers went on a separate strike, which disrupted travel for those the Easter period.

The union Rail Maritime and Transport members walked out on work on Easter Sunday. Disruption is expected to affect the entire East Coast Main line, from London to the Scottish Borders.

York’s biggest tourist attraction the National Railway Museum also striked on the busy Easter weekend, which would have seen thousands of visitors.

Union members and the museum bosses continue to have pay talks, if no decision is reached the one-day walk outs by the workers will go ahead.

SOURCE:

York Press

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