Congratulations to the civil servants who struck today and yesterday to defend the Civil Service Compensation Scheme (CSCS), their redundancy terms, which the government has decided to drastically downgrade.
The government has done this without consulting its workforce. Four of the smaller unions rolled over and died - without consulting their membership. The largest civil service union, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), balloted its 270,000 members on whether or not to take strike action and they said yes.
It's clear that the downgrading of the CSCS would be a precursor to the government - of whichever political complexion - slashing jobs in the civil service.
PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka was correct in telling civil servants they must act strongly now to defend themselves. Time is short: the changes are due to take place in the new financial year. The election period creates some turmoil, but also an opportunity for civil servants to pressure the Labour government.
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