The Quiet After The Storm

The fury of our strike action on 30^th. June has temporarily dissipated, but though we are now in the holiday season, that day, & all that inspired it, has not been forgotten. Very much, this period is akin to being the eye of the storm.

The Day of Action on the 30^th. June, saw the biggest demonstration of our anger over the proposed changes over our pensions seen in many years. It is evident that the Government were shaken by the level of support demonstrated on the 30^th. June, but it appears that they are still not listening, or simply don’t want to listen. They press on with their plans to introduce rises in our contributions, refusing to negotiate on the central points that are unacceptable to us & the other Unions. The Government & its advisors, still hope that our anger, & willingness for action is just going to fade away.

A Consultation Paper on the proposed increases for our contributions to our pensions came out from the Cabinet Office on the 28^th. July, & I hope that you all have seen them. Details are on the Branch website, if you haven’t seen them, & this includes the joint reply from Janice Godrich, Union President, & Mark Serwotka, Union General Secretary, on behalf of the Union .

Essentially, the Cabinet Office, are proposing 3 annual rises, commencing with the new tax year in April next year. For 2012-13, the proposed rises in contributions, range from an extra 0.6%, if you earn between 15,000 & £21,000 per annum, to 2.4% if you earn over £60,000.

It doesn’t sound very much, but let’s not forget that there will be similar rises in April 2013 & 2014. Even though the Teachers have been offered extra concessions by raising the level of salary at which their rise in contributions is proposed to start at, they have rejected the proposals.

Don’t be fooled. These proposals are not consultation, as the plans for the rises in our contributions are firmly laid. This makes it dictation. We know other Unions are involved in the process to ballot in the coming few months, with the expectation to join us in the next round of industrial action. Some have whispered that certain Union leaders are now reluctant to support the industrial action. I hope that this is not true, as we need to present a united front to this Government. It also has been said that individual members of those Unions whose leadership are said to be reluctant to hold strike ballots, will force the issue. I hope that this is true, as our future pensions depend upon everyone holding firm.

From a personal point of view, my family has rather been through the mill lately, as my father, at the age of nearly 89, had to be rushed into Worcester Hospital at the end of June, with a suspected twisted bowel. After an emergency operation, it turned out to be a burst ulcer, which, though not quite so serious, could still have easily have killed him. With some excellent nursing in intensive care, & sheer bloody determination to survive, he is now on the road to recovery, &, amazingly, has come home far in advance of when the Doctors thought he could. It will be many months before he is anything like back to full health, but he is still with us.

He is part of a generation that amazes me. He survived the 2^nd. World War, starting out by being the youngest ambulance driver in record, at 16, driving his ambulances on many occasions with bombs falling, through the Blitz in Birmingham . He then went into the Navy in 1941, serving as one of the Navy’s first RADAR operators (a very hush, hush job at the time), on the Atlantic Convoys, & escort duties to the Russian Convoys. He then went into Combined Operations, & said that wherever he was billeted (including Westcliff at one stage - which it turned out, was the start of our Family’s connection with this area), it seemed to then be a magnet for German bombers, as he said that he was blown out of more beds by bombs, than he had hot dinners.

He then spent many years after the War with F.W. Woolworth & Company, struggling to bring up a Wife & 3 Children on low wages. He became only the 2 Woolworth Manager to join USDAW when Woolworth’s finally allowed their employees to join a Union, & actively encouraged all his Staff to join the Union .

It was with his encouragement, that I joined the Union when I went into the Civil Service, & I remain committed to “being part of the Union ” as the old song goes, to this day. He is part of that amazing generation who survived both Hitler & Company, & their Japanese counterparts, & then tried to build a better life for our generation after the War.

They fought their battles to improve working conditions, and living standards generally from 1945 onwards. Now it is our turn to resist proposed detrimental changes from a hostile Government. We cannot let them down. Keep the faith, & support the Union .