Civil servants - will you be striking on 1st Feb?

[Iamnotausername]

I know you probably can't say what dept you are in but will you be striking?

I will.

I’m not disagreeing I asked the OP a simple question are you being paid during the strike?

You replied saying no, so I am replying to you. It’s a discussion forum you don’t need to be defensive.

@AreOttersJustWetCats the link looks like they will pay full wages.

I haven’t said I object. Just pointing out what I have been told and what I have read. 🤷‍♀️

This thread is about the strike on 1st Feb. PCS did not pay civil servants who were on strike on that day.

We’re not as our unions are NAPO or Unison and they’re not striking. I support all public sector strikes though but think all the unions should get together to organise a general strike.

I think it's bizarre that the big unions don't coordinate more.

PCS have said HMPO members will receive the equivalent of their net pay for the 5 week strike.

I think that’s shocking - 5 weeks pay to do nothing. Surely it’s not a strike if you are sitting there getting full pay.

@AzureOrchid

a strike is a withdrawal of your labour from the workplace for a particular purpose.

Its not full pay, its net pay. As union members we have paid into a strike fund - its not coming from the employer

I know that a strike is withdrawal of labour.
And most of the recent strikes have been for more pay and the perception of people on strike is that they are facing hardship, in their job and also by striking, losing out on money.
I just think it’s a bit “ off” that HMPO staff seem to not be in hardship , as they can obviously afford to be off work for five weeks and also NET pay is basically full pay , that’s what we all get after tax etc.

Striking whilst receiving full pay for five weeks - it seems wrong and can’t see any public support for this.

@AzureOrchid

the strikes are generally about pay, other sectors have wider issues as well.
I’m a union member but not in the Passport Office
I have lost two days pay, can I afford it? Not really but fortunately for me they have occurred in the two months of the year when my bills are lower so I can suck it up.
I have no idea why they have ramped up from one day strikes to 5 weeks but I have to assume they have good reasons. There is no way I could afford to strike for 5 weeks without the strike pay. Its not the purpose of a strike to push workers into poverty and debt. Union members have paid into a fund to protect their fellow members - I don’t see the issue with that.

I’m actually leaving the civil service in 3 months time, its not really my fight anymore. I could have gone to work, stayed working from home, not had to cross a picket line, not had to face anyone. But I didn’t - I stayed out, lost the pay when I didnt need to - guess if you arent a union member you wouldnt understand

I think I didn’t explain how I felt about it , I just think I feel more solidarity with nurses / bin men etc , out on the picket lines , knowing they are protesting for better pay , and most of them not receiving anything like “ net “ pay whilst on strike.
A large percentage of HMPO staff now work from home , will they come in to stand on a picket line ? No.
So basically sat at home on full pay.
Doing nothing , but wanting more. For 5 weeks. How can they possibly think the public will support this or feel solidarity

@AzureOrchid

why do you think other people dont get strike pay?

https://www.rcn.org.uk/Get-Involved/Campaign-with-us/Fair-Pay-for-Nursing/Latest-updates/Industrial-action-FAQs

https://www.unitetheunion.org/media/5093/nhs-ballot-faqs-edit-question-2.pdf

The purpose of the strike is the withdrawal of labour as a result of a breakdown in industrial relations used as a tool to force a negotiation. The loss of pay is not a necessary part of a strike it is just a way that governments and employers have found to limit the likelihood of strike action.

Strike pay schemes ensure that unions can escalate action where negotiation is not forthcoming. The government has been incredibly slow to negotiate with the civil service compared to other parts of the public sector.

Where HMPO staff work is irrelevant to the legitimacy of their strike action. It has always been that the minority of any group of striking workers will spend much time on the picket line regardless of where they work.

The public seem very supportive of public sector strikes at the moment, although of course with people like you wilfully or otherwise misunderstanding and mischaracterising strikes then you never know it support may ebb away, although that has not happened much yet despite the best efforts of the government to malign the civil service at every opportunity they get.

This is stupid. Supporting strikers isn’t a new concept. There were huge collections for miners back in the day.

this is just other union members raising money to allow a chunk of people to afford to strike.

would you rather they used food banks and public funding?

We're paying extra money into the strike fund for this. Of course people can't be expected to lose 5 weeks of money! They'll still be losing out on pension contributions etc.

Border Force also received pay for the strikes at Christmas. Is that OK because the general public see these people at the airport?

I don't think HMPO predominantly wfh anyway. The people I've spoken to lately are all in offices with interviews scheduled all day every day. Morale seemed very low.

But also, what does it even matter if they do WFH? We have the same job no matter where we're physically based. For me, the only difference each day is if I'm working surrounded by other people or by cats. 😂

It's very telling that you only find strikes acceptable if you think the strikers are being duly punished and facing dire hardship for having the audacity to stand up for themselves.

The PCS strike fund is paid for by other PCS members (i.e. civil service workers). If the DVLA or HMPO workers can bring the government to the negotiating table, it could benefit all civil service workers. What is it about the concept of collective action and mutual support that alarms you so much?

And why is it that the strikers get called all sorts for trying to stand up for themselves, but the government gets little or no criticism for refusing to even negotiate with the civil service unions? If the government had actually entered negotiatons, the strikes wouldn't be happening.

Well said AreOttersJustWetCats 👏