The Thoughts of
Chairman Mal

Hi everyone,

Having seen the offerings from both Andy Lord & Kerry Fairless on the current state of HMRC, the strike set for the 30^th. November, etc., etc., I thought that it must be time for a new blog from me. I must admit at times, it does feel that we are all going down a black hole, or similar, as you couldn’t invent some of the things that are either currently happening, or being proposed. With apologies to Kerry, I am also going to be using later in this article, the two most forbidden words in his dictionary, namely Margaret & Thatcher. Innocuous on their own, but put them together, & that is Kerry’s worst nightmare or wind-up words, just take your pick!!

As it is opportune, I’ll start with the latest inflation figures. According to the Chief Statistician, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate has risen in the last month from 4.5% to 5.2%. Looking at the alternative Retail Price Index (RPI), this has risen from 5.2% last month to 5.6% now. The CPI index is at its highest rate since September 2008, & this rate is the highest since the CPI was set up in 1997. If you look at the RPI index, this is at its highest since June 1991.

To make even more gloomy reading, what is pushing these rises, are the hikes in prices of gas & electricity. They have gone up 9.9% in the last month alone, contributing to a yearly rise of 18.9% in the last year. All this at a time when the utility companies are making massive profits. They have now promised Dave, that they won’t raise prices any more this Winter. Well, that’s just fine, as they have made sure that they got their price rises in first, didn’t they. It is also of note that in the last year, transport costs have risen by 12..8%, & food prices have risen by 6%. All this is at a time when we in the Civil Service are in a 2 year pay-free, so we have progressively less money in our pockets. Is that fair?

As another kick-in-the-teeth to us all, Dave & Company are proposing to introduce private companies into the call-centres “on a trial basis”, because private companies are always more efficient aren’t they? It doesn’t take a genius to work out where this one is going, as, of course, the “trial periods” will be deemed to be a great success. Especially when you consider that this will give private companies access to all the confidential tax records & other information about citizens, that they would give their eye-teeth to obtain. This is at a time when we are all so valued of course.

It’s also so interesting that the private sector will still be deemed to be able to be giving us all the jobs to cover the losses of jobs in the private sector. Well, that’s fallen at the first hurdle, as (if my recollection is correct) the Private Sector created 41,000 jobs in the last quarter. The Public Sector job losses in the last quarter were 100,000. I don’t claim to be a mathematical genius, but it seems to me that there is a small gap about the size of the Grand Canyon , between 41,000 & 100,000. So would the Right Horrible Francis Maude or George Osborne care to explain that one please?

If you have an 18 year old son like I have, currently trying to obtain work, he can tell you that there are few permanent jobs available in the Private Sector at present, & those that are, are at the lowest levels possible, & are usually temporary in nature. But of course, the Private Sector is going to be able to fill the void in jobs, aren’t they.

So to November 30^th., & Margaret Thatcher. Margaret Thatcher is the person that you either love or hate (yes, Kerry, I know where you stand!!), no middle ground over her at all. However, she had one characteristic that does need applauding. She didn’t give up if she knew she was right (it is also said that she didn’t give up even when proved wrong!!). She didn’t give up when she was being bullied to give in. You only have to look at how she hand-bagged the EU leadership over Britain ’s rebate, or broke the Miners. The famous U-turn speech (“You can turn if you want to”) said it all.

In our cases, we fought superbly on 30^th June, & fully showed how we felt. Virtually everybody was not in work that day, be it Member or non-Member. It has been virtually unheard of, for non-Members to come out on strike or just not turn up for work in solidarity. Magnificent, but if you are still a non-Member, now is the time to come & join us in the Union please, & legally add your voices to our protests.

We all know that we are ALL of us getting shafted on pensions, with the proposed levels of increased contributions from us for next year now announced, even though we are supposedly in consultation period. Don’t be fooled, consultation with this Government, means that they want you to surrender, not negotiate. Rates for the following 2 years are also being drawn up, though not announced yet, but you can bet that they will be more than is being proposed for 2012-13. Even when you’ve got your pension, the Government will then be using the lower CPI to calculate the rate of inflation towards the annual rate at which they raise the pension. Talk about a double-shafting!!

November 30^th., could well be the biggest National strike since the General Strike in 1926. We will be having the Teaching Unions joining us again, but this time, the other big Public Service Unions, such as UNISON, UNITE & the FBU will also be joining in. The proposals on pensions hits everybody, as does our current terms & conditions, which are being eroded day by day, both stealthily & overtly.

The aim of the Government is clear, which, ideally, is not to have a Civil Service at all, no Public Sector either where possible. It doesn’t matter to the Government that we all turn up day after day, do a good job, protect necessary information from those not entitled to it, etc., etc., we are just seen by them as a burden. A vast, bloated bureaucracy with its accompanying wage bill. A direct cost to the Government. As far as they are concerned, the sooner that they can get rid of us off the State wage bill, either directly or indirectly, the day cannot come soon enough.

The Nemesis Project envisaged a directly employed Civil Service of about 10-20,000 employees, with all other services being provided to the State by a mixture of either Agencies or similar bodies, or bought in from the Private Sector. The way this is all going at present, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Nemesis Project papers have been dusted off again. This all makes it so important that you all turn out again please on November 30th.

Remember your voice.
Use it on 30^th November
and let the Government
know where you stand.