Aberdeen And Inverness Revenue And Customs Join Strike

 Aberdeen City, Articles, Community, Information, Opinion  No Responses »
Jun 292011
 

pcs
 With thanks to Mark Chapman.

Civil and public servants across the UK and from within Aberdeen & Inverness Revenue & Customs Branch, will be joining teachers, head teachers and university lecturers striking against attacks on pensions, jobs and services on 30th June.

The government wants to make public servants work at least:-

  • 8 years longer,
  • pay double or triple more per month
  • not get any benefit from that whatsoever to receive a reduced pension
  • accept real term pay cuts of 10% which is not only affecting the standard of living of public servants, but is already reducing the worth of their future pension entitlement

They say  ‘we are all in this together’ but the bankers are still getting their multi-million pound bonuses for failed banks owned by the taxpayer and the majority of the cabinet are millionaires.

In PCS Aberdeen & Inverness Revenue & Customs Branch we will be striking on 30 June.  There will be picket lines at all branch offices, but in Aberdeen as well as having a picket line, PCS representatives and members will also be joining together for a union breakfast followed by a cross unions meeting in the Aberdeen Trades Union Council Social Club at Adelphi at 12pm.

With inflation at over 5% in the last 2 years, the current pay freeze on Civil Servants pay actually represents a real terms pay cut of at least 10%. Probably more when you take account of rising costs. We have also had an increase in National Insurance contributions and VAT. Aberdeen PCS members’ standards of living have already been severely attacked and eroded and we are not prepared to accept any further cuts when they are totally unnecessary, especially when it is clear that the increased pensions contributions we are being asked to pay are going to pay off the deficit; these increased contributions are not being invested for the benefit of the employees.

There is £120 Billion of unpaid, evaded or avoided Tax to be collected and the UK, the 6th largest economy in the world, holds £850 billion in banking assets from the bailout of the banks – this is more than the national debt.

Mark Chapman, Branch Chair of Aberdeen & Inverness Revenue & Customs Branch of PCS Union said:

“The government admits that money cut from pensions will go straight to the Treasury to help pay off the deficit in what is nothing more than a tax on working in the civil and public sector. The very modest pay and pensions of public servants did not cause the recession, so they should not be blamed, punished or demonised for it.

“Unless ministers abandon their ideological plans to hollow out and attack the public sector in the way they propose, they will face industrial action on a mass scale on 30 June and beyond.”

An AO (Admin Officer), 38 yrs of age added:

“I’ve worked out that I will pay an extra £48.75 per month, have to work 7 years longer than I expected and will lose approximately £19,000 from my pension too.

“I cannot afford this. I already struggle to make it to pay day at the end of the month and this all because this government wants me and people like me to pay for a crisis caused by failed banks and the irresponsible non-investment decisions of those who run those banks.

“This is not equality of sacrifice, is not fair and is criminally unjust. This is on top of an expected pay freeze which is already making life harder for me and is already hitting the future worth of my pension”

There will be picket lines outside most major HMRC buildings and other Civil Service buildings, and services to the public will be disrupted.

Striking Aberdeen PCS Union members will join teachers, other striking workers and representatives from other Unions at various meetings and rallies up and down the country, showing support and solidarity for this action.

PCS, the Public and Commercial Services Union is the largest Civil Service Union. It has over 290,000 members in over 200 departments and agencies throughout the UK. It also represents workers in parts of government transferred to the private sector. PCS Union is the UK’s sixth largest union and is affiliated to the TUC.  For further info See: http://www.pcs.org.uk/

 

Fundraising Bike Ride To Raise Awareness About The Cuts

 Articles, Charity, Community, Events, Featured, Information  No Responses »
May 052011
 

With Thanks to Mark Chapman.

brighton
An 840 mile solo bike ride to raise awareness of the forthcoming public services cuts starts on 6 May 2011.  The route will be from Peterhead to Brighton (8 days of cycling with 1 rest day), going via various public service departments. Mark Chapman, Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) Aberdeen and Inverness Revenue and Customs Branch President, will be undertaking this challenging solo bike ride to raise funds for three causes as well as to highlight the unnecessary cuts that are being made across the UK.

Mark will start his ride from outside of the now closed Peterhead tax office (which once employed over 20 local people) on Seagate at 8am on Friday 6 May.  On day one Chapman will call at the new Peterhead HMRC location (which now employs just one person), the Aberdeen HMRC office at around 11am, and will finish this first day in Stonehaven.

The rest of his ride itinerary is set out as follows –

Day 2 – Stonehaven to Perth (calling at Dundee tax office and call centre, and Perth tax office).

Day 3 – Perth to Hawick (calling at Cowdenbeath DWP, Galashiels and Hawick tax offices).

Day 4 – Hawick to Darlington (calling at Hexham, Bishop Auckland and Darlington tax offices).

Day 5 – Darlington to Chesterfield (calling at Catterick MOD, Skipton, Halifax and Chesterfield tax offices).

Day 6 – Rest day in Chesterfield (Mark will be meeting with the local Crown Prosecution Service PCS branch members to address a members meeting).

Day 7 – Chesterfield to Shipston on Stour (calling at Alfreton DWP and tax office and East Midlands Airport to meet PCS members working for the UK Borders Agency).

Day 8 – Shipston on Stour to Salisbury (calling at Newbury tax office, Andover tax office where Mark will be met by the local trades union council, M S Society reps and PCS members, and Salisbury tax office).

Day 9 – Salisbury to Brighton (Mark will be welcomed into Brighton at the pier at the end of his ride by PCS members and senior PCS officials).

The three causes that Mark is fundraising for and the reasons he chose these causes is set out below –

  1. The M S Society – Mark’s mum has been a sufferer for over 20 years and he has grown up seeing just how important it is for the person who has Multiple Sclerosis to have a solid and reliable support network in place.  The M S Society provides that support both for the sufferer and their carers.
  2. Val Irvine Foundation – Mark wants to help raise the much-needed funds required to allow this new foundation to realise Val Irvine’s dying wish, which was that the studio that she helped build would be used as a holistic therapy and art centre for the people of the Banff and Buchan area who are diagnosed as having cancer – as she herself was only a couple of years ago.  Friday 6 May 2011 would have been Val’s 45th birthday, making the start day of Mark’s ride all the more poignant.
  3. PCS hardship fund – this trade union is not politically affiliated in any way and they represent members who provide our much-needed public services.  They are fighting to stop the cuts in public spending in areas such as teaching, health care, taxation & benefits, and the voluntary sector, as well as protecting jobs in all other public sector departments.

Mark Chapman said:

“This ride started out as a pipedream really.  I’ve always wanted to challenge myself physically and mentally, but I’ve never had the drive to do it just for myself.  I started to get really frustrated about the way that the cuts are being portrayed to the general public ,and the fact that they were not being given the full facts to consider.

“PCS has published a booklet about the alternative to the cuts, and ideally I felt that this should have landed on everybody’s doorstep across the whole of the UK, but financially that was an impossible task.  I decided that maybe I could do something about this by getting the message across in a different way.

“PCS conference takes place in Brighton in May this year and I decided that if I could travel to conference in a less than conventional way from the north east of Scotland this year, then maybe I could raise the profile of what the cuts really do mean to everyone in the UK.

“I then saw the opportunity to also raise funds for 3 causes that are very close to my heart.  So now I am doing what I always wanted to do.  I am challenging my body and mind, but I also have an incentive as I am doing this for so many other people.”

To sponsor Mark or to find out more about his challenge please visit https://sites.google.com/site/thelongroadtobrighton/ or just type ‘Long Road to Brighton’ into any search engine.

To date Mark has received pledges totalling approximately £5,000.  Please do all that you can to help him reach his target of raising in excess of £10,000.

Mark would be happy to meet people along his route, full details of which will be available on his website.

Footnote – PCS, the Public and Commercial Services Union is the union representing civil and public servants in central government. It has more than 315,000 members in over 200 departments and agencies. It also represents workers in parts of government transferred to the private sector. PCS is the UK’s sixth largest union and is affiliated to the TUC. The general secretary is Mark Serwotka and the president Janice Godrich.

 

Reduced Tax Office Hours Will Hit Pensioners Hardest

 Aberdeen City, Articles, Community, Information, Opinion  Comments Off on Reduced Tax Office Hours Will Hit Pensioners Hardest
Mar 042011
 

pcspic
With thanks to Mark Chapman.

HM Revenue and Customs proposals to cut the days the tax enquiry centre in Aberdeen will open, will drastically reduce frontline services, the Public and Commercial Services union warns.

The enquiry centre is currently open each weekday offering face to face tax advice but from May HMRC is proposing to reduce this to only 3 days a week. The PCS, which represents staff at the office, is concerned this will hit pensioners and those claiming tax credits the hardest as they are the centre’s most frequent callers.

They have also warned it will lead to more problems for people with enquiries caused by the PAYE computer system fiasco.

Mark Chapman, PCS Aberdeen & Inverness Revenue & Customs Branch Chair said.

“Enquiry centre users often travel miles to visit the office to sort out their tax problems. We are worried that when they get here, they will find it closed, and have to come back another day.

“We are also concerned that with opening times reduced, customers may have to wait some time for an appointment. Many of these people rely on tax credits or are pensioners and cannot afford to wait or spend more to get here. They will be inconvenienced by these plans.”

The enquiry centres also provide telephones and internet access. This saves people the cost of ringing from home and they feel more confident as local staff are available to give advice if needed.

HMRC aims to persuade more people to use the internet or telephone but many people still do not have access to the internet or do not feel comfortable using it to get advice about financial matters. Staffing has been reduced in HMRC contact centres and they are currently only able to answer less than 50% of calls.

PCS is urging people to email mailbox.f2fchangeteam@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk to respond to HMRC’s consultation on the reduction of opening times.

Notes

– For more information contact Mark Chapman on 0798 447 9628

– The Public and Commercial Services union represents civil and public servants in central government. It has more than 300,000 members in over 200 departments and agencies, and in parts of government transferred to the private sector.  PCS is the UK’s sixth largest union and is affiliated to the TUC.  The general secretary is Mark Serwotka and the president is Janice Godrich

– Follow PCS on Twitter http://twitter.com/pcs_union

 

March on Saturday 27th November

 Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Articles, Community, Events, Featured, Information, Opinion  No Responses »
Nov 252010
 

standrewspic
With thanks to Mark Chapman of PCS Union.

On Saturday 27 November at 11.00, Aberdeen Trades Union Council members, trade unionists and representatives of community groups from throughout Aberdeen will march from St Nicholas Church, Union Street, to an anti-racism rally in Castlegate.

A range of speakers will talk about racism, the anti-public sector cuts campaign and the campaign against privatisation of Royal Mail.

Mark Chapman of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) commented:

“We have recently seen activity by the BNP and National Front in Aberdeen. In a number of cases they have distributed racist literature to children outside city schools. There is no place for these beliefs in our society and Saturday’s march and rally is our opportunity to get this message across. Please join us to send out a clear signal – these people are not welcome in our community.

“Public sector cuts will have a huge effect in and around Aberdeen. With the city council set to make cuts of £127 million, there cannot fail to be a detrimental effect on every member of our community.

“Royal Mail privatisation will also lead to huge job cuts. This is a service that we all rely on and can trust. To privatise it would lead to a less-accountable and far more costly service for users”.

Anger Over Public Services Cuts Following CSR

 Aberdeen City, Articles, Featured, News  No Responses »
Oct 292010
 

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With thanks to Mark Chapman.

Up to two hundred and thirty seven local jobs in Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs are at risk, warned Public & Commercial Services Union today, following George Osborne’s Comprehensive Spending Review announcement.

Local Union Leader Mark Chapman issued the warning after Osborne announced cuts of more than 15% in the HMRC budget, and HMRC Chief Executive Lesley Strathie announced to staff that upwards of thirteen thousand additional jobs would be lost.

Previously agreements won by the Union have offered protection to staff in ‘strategic’ offices, and have secured transfers to those sites for staff in other locations.  In this new climate of cuts, all bets are off, and all HMRC offices once again face the risk of closure.

No definitive announcements have been made yet on which offices are to close, but insiders suggest that the Department will be seeking to utilise any lease breaks available to them, regardless of location, to carry out cuts as quickly as possible.

Mr Chapman said, “As a matter of priority, we will be seeking confirmation from the Department of the lease breaks that exist on the rented office space at Ruby House, Ruby Place Aberdeen.

There is £123,000 million that could be collected in tax that is immorally dodged

“We believe that members deserve candour and honesty from their employer at this difficult time, but instead local managers’ hands are tied by the desire to provide as much publicity as possible for George Osborne and his pals.”

Local frustrations and concerns are not divorced from the wider national picture, though, said Mr Chapman; “There is £123,000 million that could be collected in tax that is immorally dodged.  HMRC staff could and should be collecting that money, and so we reject entirely the notion that jobs should be lost where people could be redeployed usefully to getting that money in.

The PCS supported the buses running from Aberdeen to the “There is a Better Way” demonstration in Edinburgh on Saturday 23 October, and at the demonstration our members gave vent to their frustrations with a Government that is hell bent on cuts at any cost.”

  • PCS, the Public and Commercial Services Union is the union representing civil and public servants in central government. It has more than 270,000 members in over 200 departments and agencies. It also represents workers in parts of government transferred to the private sector.  Over 34,000 members are based in Scotland.  PCS is the UK’s sixth largest union and is affiliated to the TUC. The general secretary is Mark Serwotka and the president Janice Godrich.  The Scottish Secretary is Lynn Henderson.
  • For further information, please contact Mark Chapman, PCS Aberdeen & Inverness Revenue & Customs Branch President on 0798 447 9628.