PCS Associate and Retired Members
North West Committee
Newsletter
Website:
E-mail:
Editors: Steve Ion, Ray Beeton & Neville Grundy
HMRC Cleaners:
ARMs Supports the fight for a Living Wage
No to Cuts No to Redundancies
PCS Members who are employed as Cleaners
in HMRC attended a well-supported
demonstration of Trade Unionists and
Pensioners Groups in Liverpool.
PCS Cleaner members in dispute told PCS
ARMs that they wanted Fair Rights. For a
National Living Wage with the same job but for
less hours. Cleaners in Liverpool have not even
had the 90 day consultation period for
redundancy.
The background to the dispute is that HMRC
have subcontracted the work through the
subsidiary Salisbury FM to ISS Facility Services
Ltd. To shoulder the burden of the Living Wage
the company are cutting hours and jobs
ARMs PCS Merseyside offer our full support to
our cleaner members in HMRC. Follow on
Twitter @PCS4cleaners and on Facebook One
for All- Justice for HMRC Cleaners
Published by the North West of the PCS Associate and Retired Members (ARMS).
If you want to know more about ARMS, please email us at p.c.green@ukgateway.net
arms-nw.blogspot.co.uk
p.c.green@ukgateway.net
April-2016
A SEEPING MALEVOLENCE AGAINST
PENSIONERS
Merseyside ARMs believes the claim that IDS
resigned on the basis of his opposition to
attacks on the disabled is cynical and
hypocritical. He pushed the Bedroom Tax,
Universal Credit, ATOS, and the persecution of
disabled people who were sanctioned when
incapable of work. He presided in the increase
of suicides among those deprived of benefit
We particularly note that his letter targets
pensioners with the words: “You are aware that
I believe the cuts would have been even fairer
to younger families and people of working age if
we had been willing to reduce some of the
benefits given to better-off pensioners….”,
another cynical ploy to divide the old from the
young. Such a notion is part of a growing and
insidious campaign to attack pensions and
related entitlements.
As well as I D Smith, Frank Field and assorted
journalists have trialled the idea that pensioners
are privileged. Hamish Macrae of the “I”
declared “If pensioners get more then someone
has to foot the bill”. Patrick Wintour of the
Guardian headlined: “Pensioners now have a
bigger share of the wealth than under 45s”.
Darling of the establishment Field says ”The so
called Triple Lock on State Pensions is paid for
by squeezing the real incomes of working
people”.
These people see the banker-induced crisis as
a zero-sum game of a single cake of a
shrinking size baked by the Tories in which
every slice is reduced or increased as long as it
stay within the spending cap determined by
history’s most mendacious government .
Ignored are the £billions in Tax dodged by the
fat cats who bankroll the Tory party; as is the
£350 billion of quantative easing gifted to the
banks; the £ billions paid out in bankers’
bonuses is a sealed book; the tax cuts to the
top 1% is not even mentioned by the sainted
Frank Fields or his kindred spirits.
Nor is it mentioned that British pensioners are
amongst the lowest paid in Western Europe.
The OECD reported that British workers
receive, if private and state pensions are
combined, 38% of their wages, this figure would
dramatically reduce for workers without a
private pension. In contrast the level in Holland
and Austria is 90% and in Spain and Italy 80%
of average wages. We believe now is the time
for the TUC to join with the National Pensioners
Convention to act on its policy of preparing a
massive campaign of opposition to these
attacks on pensioners and to all austerity. This
campaign should initiate mass industrial action
to include a 24-hour general strike, a policy
adopted by the 2013 TUC, to force this
shambles of a government to retreat.
Tony Mulhearn
The flat rate pension you probably
won't get!
MPs have slammed the Government for
botching its message about the new state
pension so badly that people haven't a clue
whether they will win or lose under the reforms.
With just weeks to go before the changes, they
warn that only 13% of those reaching state
pension age in the first year of the new state
pension will receive the loudly-trumpeted full flat
rate of £155.65 a week.
Aside from this 'oversimplified' message,
communicating the changes has been left to
'general awareness campaigns or
happenchance', according to the latest
broadside from the Work and Pensions
Committee.
(From the 'This Is Money' website)
To get a pension forecast, go to:
www.gov.uk/check-state-pension
Published by the North West of the PCS Associate and Retired Members (ARMS).
If you want to know more about ARMS, please email us at p.c.green@ukgateway.net
Chris Baugh AGS spoke at Merseyside AGM
Chris advised the meeting that the attacks on
PCS are unprecedented. It’s seen as the
biggest attack on a single trade union since the
1920’s. It has echoes of the attacks on the
miners.
Chris led negotiations’ in the long running
National Gallery Dispute where PCS gained
significant assurances from employer.
The sign up campaign has been highly
successful. 160,000 members have signed up
over a sixth month period.
Attacks continue on privatisation and the
employer is looking again at partial privatisation
of the Land Registry.
The attacks on the compensation scheme
(redundancy) are being rushed through; the
government are hoping to have it in by the 4 th
June.
PCS continues to stand firm.
Diary Dates
New Manchester Group - Inaugural meeting on
the 7th June with guest speaker Chris Baugh
AGS. See BLOG for details of meeting.
Merseyside Group
 Thursday 30 June.
 Thursday 29 September.
Unless stated otherwise, all meetings will take
place at PCS NW Regional Centre, 3rd floor,
Jack Jones House, Islington, Liverpool,
L3 8EG. Tel: 0151 298 3900.
Other dates:
14-16 June 2016 – NPC Pensioners Parliament
Blackpool All Welcome
ARMs National Forum Liverpool Tuesday 21 st
June