By Adam Kula, Swindon Advertiser

HUNDREDS of civil servants in Swindon could walk out on strike later this month.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union are said to be “fed up” with Government cuts and have begun a ballot for industrial action.

“Not only are we on a pay freeze but they’re about to say we’ll have to make bigger contributions to our pensions, so that’ll be effectively a pay cut.”

- Andy Parsons

The PCS has members in Swindon’s Court Service, the research councils, the HM Revenue and Customs office in Farnsby Street, and the town’s Jobcentre.

It is not known exactly how many members the PCS has in the town, but the union said it is “several hundred”.

Andy Parsons, 48, is secretary of the PCS’ environmental research council branch, based in Swindon.

Mr Parsons, from Goddard Avenue, Old Town, said: “Not only are we on a pay freeze but they’re about to say we’ll have to make bigger contributions to our pensions, so that’ll be effectively a pay cut.

“Most people are really quite sick of the Government. The financial crisis we’re in was created by the bankers. They’re still getting their bonuses but it’s public sector staff, like teachers and health employees, having a pay freeze.

“Workers are fed up being the scapegoats for the financial crisis the bankers got us into.”

He said he was “confident” of the vote being favour of a strike, and that any action would cause disruption, especially to those people using the Jobcentre.

The ballot papers were posted out last week, and the vote closes on June 15. A result will be announced a couple of days later.

If it is a ‘Yes’, then the planned day of action will be on Thursday, June 30. The law then allows workers to take another four days of strike action in the wake of the initial walk-out.

This could snowball because the town’s teaching unions are also running a similar ballot at the same time.

If the vote comes back in favour of action, members of the teaching unions would also go on strike on the same day.

The Department for Work and pensions, which runs the Jobcentre, said it could not comment until the results were known.

But Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said: “It is obviously disappointing that the PCS leadership has decided to ballot its members.

“But the vote cannot deter us from continuing with the ongoing union talks about how to achieve the changes that are necessary in the present financial climate and we continue to hope that industrial action will not take place.

“The Government believes – and it is an approach that is shared by the majority of other unions who are committed to putting the interests of their members above all else – that it is through frank and open discussion and maximum engagement that we can seek to avoid a situation where members feel their only option is to take industrial action.”

By Adam Kula, Swindon Advertiser

A DISABLED father and his parents have appealed to Swindon council – Save Our Carers. The Hardy family claim that cutting the jobs of 64 home carers and farming their work out to the private sector is a ruthless move which is hitting the vulnerable.

A petition is being gathered by Geoff Hardy, of Thorne Road, Eldene, and by the care workers themselves. To date it has than 3,000 signatures.

The 64-year-old grandfather has been helping to gather names – for a personal reason.

Around eight years ago, his 45-year-old son Alan was struck down with multiple sclerosis.

A once-healthy father of two, with a degree in biochemistry, today Alan can no longer walk.

He is currently bed-ridden with an infection in the Great Western Hospital – but when at home, the home care team visit him four times a day, every day.

Unable to speak, dad Alan gathered a statement from him, which can be read in the panel. Mr Hardy also wrote a joint statement with his wife saying: “I do believe this is an unnecessary act.

“Why is it when cutbacks have to be made it’s always the vulnerable are hit?”

Geoff is a director with a local company and said as a businessman he knows how the private sector works.

“The carers turn up at the houses every single day,” he said.

“All the time we’ve had them they’ve never been late. They do a wonderful service.

I don’t believe when it goes private they’ll get the care. It’ll all be for money. Private people will only do what they have to. It makes my blood boil.

I’ve always voted Conservative. But I think the Conservatives are being far too ruthless. Too quick and too many cuts.

In my company I could get people in cheaper to do the job. I wouldn’t be successful, because they wouldn’t perform the same.”

“I’d like to say to Rod Bluh, the council leader: ‘Come with me, see the dedication these people are giving.’ But they only see figures.”

Ann-Marie Black, a carer for 21 years and Unison representative, said: “We’ve got more than 3,000 signatures in one day.

“That’s from people in voluntary services, district nurses, radiologists.

No-even has even questioned it. I got more than 400 signatures myself, and not one person hesitated to sign.”

She said they are trying to set up a website for the campaign.

MORE than 100 students stormed out of lessons at New College yesterday as thousands of students descended on London to demonstrate against hikes to tuition fees.

About 140 people quit lessons at 11am yesterday and protested outside the entrance of the college waving placards before marching around the site chanting against the Government.

Richard Dean, 17, who organised the protests at New College, said: “We are angry at these education cuts and we will not accept them without a fight, it’s disgusting. We are extremely angry at Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems who have gone back on a promise and have stabbed a lot of students who voted for them in the back.

If one person or one college walks out then it is not going to have an impact but if every college and school walks out then Cameron is going to have a problem.

These cuts hit the poorest hardest, when it come to education everyone should have the same opportunities.

I think it is great that we have more than a 100 people here it’s a credit to all the students and the power of Facebook.”

Richard is in the process of applying for university at the moment and was at the protests in London two weeks ago.

He said:

“It was amazing, I know the violence got all the headlines but that was only a minority. We can’t afford to go to London every time, so we thought we would hold something here to show our support.”

Although police turned up, the protests passed peacefully.

PC Gemma Vinton said: “We’ve just come along to make sure everyone is well behaved and nothing gets out of hand, and as you can see it is all passing off peacefully.”

The college has about 3,500 students aged between 16 and 19 and staff were pleased with the manner in which the protests were carried out Marketing manager Amanda Walton said: “We’re maintaining a fairly neutral stance on the protests, but we won’t discipline anyone who was involved because they are well within their rights to protest.

“As a college we’re doing what we can to help the students and provide a viable alternative to university. Staff were aware that some students might walk out of the lesson and most of the staff were fairly tolerant. A lot of lessons were finishing early anyway due to an open evening, so a lot of people were leaving the college anyway, but we are pleased it all went relatively peacefully.”

Thousands of students protested in London again yesterday over plans to increase tuition fees in England to £9,000 a year and to withdraw public funding for university teaching budgets for many subjects.

They gathered in the capital at Trafalgar Square before marching past Downing Street toward the Houses of Parliament.

But they were stopped by lines of police in Whitehall before the demonstration had reached Parliament Square.

As well as the march in London students across England staged a day of action with sit-ins, occupations and walk-outs at universities and colleges. Some pupils also staged protests at schools.

Mixed opinions in the classroom

Not all the students were impressed by the manner in which the protest were held.

Sam Goding, 16, said: “I’m all for protesting against the education cuts but this isn’t productive. They are protesting but at the same time losing out by not being in lessons. Most people don’t even know what they are protesting about.”

Hannah Cole, 17, said: “David Cameron is not here and not listening to what they have to say. It is a waste of time with a lot of them just getting involved because they think it is a bit of fun. Police are here as well, they are just wasting their time.”

By Charley Morgan, Swindon Advertiser

The announcement that the Oasis Leisure Centre could be sold off to a private developer by the cash-strapped Swindon Council was met with dismay by people using the centre.

The Adver reported on Saturday that the council had placed advertisements in trade magazines inviting developers to make expressions of interest in the site.

It said the centre, in North Star Avenue, is near the end of its operational life and it would cost too much to bring it up to standard. It wants to see the site turned into a regional leisure destination with an events arena, an indoor snow dome or an ice rink.

It is also offering developers the chance to get their hands on at least 5.6 hectares of land next door.

Mark, 32, and Kelly Shelford, 29, from Taw Hill, brought their four-and-a-half month old daughter Amelia swimming for the first time on Sunday. Mr Shelford said: “It would be a bit of a shame if it closed. It’s really child-friendly with a shallow pool for babies. If they managed to improve it I think it might be ok, but it’s a bit pricey as it is. So it would be a bit of a worry if it went private.”

Lisa, 42, and Darron Thevarajah, 41, from Bristol, brought their two sons swimming on Sunday. Mr Thevarajah said: “We come here from Bristol because it’s the closest place around with a wave machine and slides. It would be a shame if they got rid of the swimming pool. It costs £15 for four of us to go swimming now so it would be worrying if a private developer put the price up.”

Chris, 48, and Mary Pitt, 45, from Yate in South Gloucestershire, brought their 14-year-old daughter to the British Tae Kwon Do Championships on Sunday.

Mr Pitt said: “We used to come here quite a lot, especially when the kids were younger.

You can’t let the council sell it – it doesn’t make sense. There is an ice rink just down the road at the Link Centre and not so many people go skating as go swimming.”

And Roger Luton, from Yate, added: “The facilities are good but cost is the over-riding factor for most people. It was expensive for us to come here today but it has such good facilities like the wave machine and the slides. It would be a real loss but then that’s the trouble with councils – they have got to save so much money. But if it was privately run it would be all about profit.”

A spokesman for the council said last week that leisure was one of its key priorities and it was considering a number of options as to how its centres might be developed.

CAR parking attendants are planning to go on strike on the first day of late-night Christmas shopping tomorrow.

The industrial action is the latest development in an ongoing dispute between Swindon Council and Unison members over pay.

Staff from the car parking, country parks and leisure departments have been on strike at the weekends since September 25, leading to disruption, particularly in the town’s leisure centres.

They decided to take action after the council withdrew extra pay for working unsociable hours, such as nights and weekends.

The latest action is designed to hit the cash-strapped council hard in the pocket by potentially reducing the amount of income it will get from people paying to park while they do their Christmas shopping.

Unison branch secretary Bob Cretchley said: “We have given notice that our members in car parking will be going on strike on Thursday afternoon and evening, which is the start of the Christmas late-night shopping.

“We are not looking to escalate this dispute, we want it resolved and we are hoping the council will start coming forward with some proposals and start taking this seriously.”

He said some Unison members were losing up to £300 a month following the council’s decision and one in particular was facing having their house repossessed as a result.

Mr Cretchley said members would still be going on strike at the weekends too and the union was also in the process of balloting members in the libraries and museums department to see if they would also go on strike in support of their fellow union members.

He added: “We would all rather be sitting down and talking but resolve is very strong.

We’ve been going for seven weeks now and if anything resolve is even stronger than at the start and there is no indication of people drifting back to work.”

The union had received more than £4,000 in donations to a hardship fund to help those on strike.

A spokesman for the council said they would be bringing in temporary staff to cover for those who are planning to go on strike on Thursday and did not expect there to be any disruption.

ALMOST 100 per cent of Ambulance crews in Wiltshire have indicated that they would be prepared to strike over changes being made to their shift patterns.

Crews in Wiltshire, Avon and Gloucestershire have indicated that they would take industrial action over sweeping changes being implemented by Great Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust.

The changes affect shift patterns and shift times, and remove ambulance crews’ right to two rest breaks in shifts that last a minimum of 12 hours.

Unison, the public service union that represents ambulance crews in GWAS, sent a consultative questionnaire to all affected members.

The questionnaire is not a formal ballot for strike action, but it indicates what the results would be if an industrial action ballot was issued.

A massive 97 per cent of responses said they had no confidence in GWAS management and 96 per cent said that they would be prepared to take some form of industrial action short of strike action.

A further 94 per cent said that, if necessary, they would vote to support strike action.

Unison steward and Swindon paramedic Phil Davis said:

“This is an issue about welfare and safety of our patients and our ambulance crews.

If you call for an ambulance, you expect the crew who arrive to be at the top of their game.

Would you want emergency ambulance crews that have worked long hours without opportunity to eat or drink properly?

Would you want a paramedic making life-or-death decisions without having adequate sleep before arriving for a 12-hour shift?

This is what our employer wants. Ambulance crews are in a caring profession and understand that our patients should expect the best. We can give them the best, but not if the employer treats us like numbers.”

Unison has invited senior executives from GWAS to meet with staff representatives in order to find a mutually agreeable way forward that provides the best for patients and staff.

GWAS spokesman John Oliver said the changes were being made to ensure the right numbers of vehicles and staff were on duty at peak times.

He said the service was recruiting 81 new frontline staff, including paramedics, as well as making changes to shift patterns and rotas.

“The changes are designed to be beneficial for patients and also help crews as well,” he said.

Mr Oliver added that a consultation process started five months ago and he accepted that the changes were unsettling to some staff.

STRIKE action by Unison members was escalated as the union members extended their weekend strikes to Friday too.

Staff belonging to the union from the town’s car parks did not work on Friday and those at the Link Centre stopped work at 8pm on Friday too. Swindon Council’s leisure, car parking and parks staff have been taking industrial action following a dispute over pay.

The council has withdrawn extra pay for working unsociable hours like evenings and weekends.

Some staff are losing £300 a week because of it and Unison members have been on strike at weekends since September 25.

Unison branch secretary Bob Cretchley said the union was preparing to ballot staff from other council departments.

“We have already given notice that we are balloting further groups in the libraries and museums departments and we could be escalating the action,” he said.

“But we did have a meeting with the council on Thursday and they indicated they were looking to try and find a way to resolve this.”

From the Swindon Advertiser. Looks like an Adver error; that should be £300 a month.

By Charly Morgan, Swindon Advertiser

Ambulance staff could take industrial action in a dispute over changes to their working conditions.

The Great Western Ambulance Service (GWAS) says it needs to change the shift system to handle increased demand from 999 calls.

It said the changes might even benefit frontline staff by not having to attend calls near the end of shifts which can now mean they have to go home late.

But Unison claims that the changes are not fair on staff.

Simon Newell, regional organiser for Unison, said: “We are seeking views from members on a range of issues.

“The accident and emergency redesign programme significant changes to our members working arrangements and shift patterns and meal break provision as well.

Many shifts are 12 hours long and currently staff can take two breaks but the employer is proposing to reduce that to a single break of three quarters of an hour in what can be a 14-hour shift.”

He added: “It seems the trust is bent on pushing through the changes and is trying to bully and intimidate staff into agreeing to changes they are reluctant or, in some cases, cannot comply with.”

Some staff are said to face a 500 per cent increase in childcare costs if they worked the new shifts.

But GWAS spokesman John Oliver said the changes were being made to ensure the right numbers of vehicles and staff were on duty at peak times.

He said the service was recruiting 81 new frontline staff, including paramedics, as well as making changes to shift patterns and rotas.

“The changes are designed to be beneficial for patients and also help crews as well,” he said.

Mr Oliver added that a consultation process started five months ago and accepted that the changes were unsettling to some staff.

Some changes had already been made and some will take effect in the next few days.

But he said the Great Western Ambulance Society would continue to speak to staff to try and resolve any issues.

The city where Iain Duncan Smith claims people from Merthyr Tydfil should go to find work currently has almost nine times more jobseekers than jobs, research by PCS shows.

Figures obtained by the union for the day following the work and pensions secretary’s statement about unemployed workers ‘getting on the bus’, show there are 15,000 people in Cardiff chasing just 1,700 jobs.

On Friday 22 October there were 1,670 unemployed people in Merthyr, south Wales, and 39 job vacancies, all temporary and part-time. The number of people out of work in Merthyr and Blaenau Gwent combined was more than the total number of job vacancies for the whole of Wales.

Of the Cardiff vacancies, the vast majority were temporary and part-time. Of the temporary jobs, most were unskilled labouring for just one or three weeks’ duration.

The most popular vacancy on the day the union carried out its research was a Christmas job in a well known store working four-hour shifts on Saturdays and Sundays for the national minimum wage.

Among the permanent jobs was work in a casino or bars. Neither offered help with journeys home afterwards and the last bus out of Cardiff leaves at 11.06pm. Workers from outside the city might be able to get the bus to work, but they would not be able to get home.

Nationally, there are 2.5 million people out of work and fewer than 500,000 job vacancies. As part of this week’s spending review, the government admitted 490,000 public sector workers could lose their jobs and economists predict this could lead to another half a million private sector job cuts.

These figures prove it is not a question of people not being willing to work, there simply are not enough jobs for them to do – and there are unlikely to be any time soon because of the government’s plans to cut public spending, including cutting 15,000 more jobs in the Department for Work and Pensions.

Far from being about ‘fairness’, the union says Duncan Smith’s comments were part of an orchestrated campaign by coalition government ministers to recast some of the most vulnerable members of our society as the new ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor to help clear the ground for the biggest assault on the welfare state in living memory.

Also, the fact is that when people sign on, they already sign a jobseekers agreement that says they are prepared to travel up to an hour by bus to find work. After six months this goes up to an hour and a half.

If their travel is within an hour, the cost is not refunded so the jobseeker is required to find the money themselves out of their jobseekers allowance.

Instead of vilifying the unemployed PCS says the government should be creating jobs and opportunities to help people get back to work and to help our economy to grow. It should also put proper resources into jobcentres to help jobseekers find suitable employment.