Civil service job cuts 'would affect Haringey residents' (From Haringey Independent)

Civil service job cuts 'would affect Haringey residents'

1:27pm Tuesday 9th March 2010 in

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CUTS to the redundancy package of civil servants could pave the way for a major job cull which would have serious consequences for unemployed Haringey residents, workers on strike have said.

Court staff from Wood Green Crown Court and Haringey Magistrates Court, both in Lordship Lane, and workers at Job Centre Plus, who help people access work, training or benefits, walked out yesterday as a part of a two-day national strike called by the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS).

At the heart of the dispute is the Government plans to change the terms of the civil servants redundancy payouts – up to a third of their previous entitlements, which the staff argue will make it cheaper for bosses to make job cuts.

And cutting workers particularly staff at the job centres would cause more unemployment and make it harder for out of work residents to get the help they need to return back into the job market, demonstrators said.

Andy Lawson, PCS branch organiser of DWP North London, based in Wood Green said: "Civil servants in this sector have historically been paid some of the lowest wages, but have always enjoyed job security and a decent redundancy package to compensate.

"I do not think tackling unemployment is on the Government's agenda otherwise they wouldn't make these cuts. They are simply trying to make cuts to save money. The problem with the economy is not the fault of ordinary people, but bosses, bankers and bailouts.

"They say their hands are tied with regard to the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) paying bonuses to its staff because it's 'contractual', yet they do not want to honour the contracts they have made with civil servants."

Mr Lawson said 65 per cent of the workforce had opted to strike meaning Job Centre Plus, in Western Avenue, had not been able to run a proper service.

The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) have remained quite over the strike action but released a statement assuring services users that all job centres "would remain open".