I have linked to an article in the New Stateman in which Mark Serwotka says the following:
"Lots of political decisions are inefficient and wasteful, but none of those things is on anyone's radar. When people talk about reform, what they mean is cuts and job losses. We believe there should not be any reduction in public spending at all."
The problem with this approach is it basically does not engage with the debate. Labour accepted that £50,000,000,000 of cuts were necessary.
If the union position is that there should be no reduction in public spending at all then they are unable to engage with the debate.
PCS used their veto to stop the Labour Government's plan to (rightly) remove the scheme that gives 6 years pay to some Civil Servants who are made redundant. It is simply not possible to run the government and pay such massive redundancy payments.
Hence the coalition has legislated to remove that Veto.
I wonder if the democratic accountability of Mark Serwotka will ensure that he wakes up and smells the coffee. I have dealt with a number of union leaders in the past who have been quite reasonable and sensible in trying to get the best result for their members. Going for the impossible gets nothing.
"Lots of political decisions are inefficient and wasteful, but none of those things is on anyone's radar. When people talk about reform, what they mean is cuts and job losses. We believe there should not be any reduction in public spending at all."
The problem with this approach is it basically does not engage with the debate. Labour accepted that £50,000,000,000 of cuts were necessary.
If the union position is that there should be no reduction in public spending at all then they are unable to engage with the debate.
PCS used their veto to stop the Labour Government's plan to (rightly) remove the scheme that gives 6 years pay to some Civil Servants who are made redundant. It is simply not possible to run the government and pay such massive redundancy payments.
Hence the coalition has legislated to remove that Veto.
I wonder if the democratic accountability of Mark Serwotka will ensure that he wakes up and smells the coffee. I have dealt with a number of union leaders in the past who have been quite reasonable and sensible in trying to get the best result for their members. Going for the impossible gets nothing.
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