more ‘My Work’ can be found in the gallery.

On Thursday 14th February Philip Dunne, Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology visited my workplace, the Defence Support Group (DSG), to hand out campaign medals to workers who have served in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, in recognition of the pivotal support they provided to the front line troops.

Ironically Philip Dunne is the Minister that is currently responsible for approving the potential sale of DSG. The sale was announced in October 2010 as part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). If  it goes ahead it could mean that the people he was presenting medals to will be made redundant in the near future.

Members of staff joined together during their lunch break for an impromptu demonstration on the road outside their workplace. Their message was that selling off DSG to the private sector is the wrong decision. They hope their message would be heard and understood by the Minister for Defence Equipment, Support and Technology. Other workers driving past the demonstration on their way to and from work, showed their support by tooting their horns and waving.

• More detail on the event can be found here.
• More detail on the campaign can be found here.

On Saturday evening a good friend came round to visit.  There was lots of chatting, board games and a demonstration of Japanese medical skills and the next thing I knew it was 4.30 in the morning!!

The result of this late night/early morning meant I was rather lethargic during Sunday morning.  But I was forced to spring into action in the afternoon to clear away all the Christmas decorations. Following that there was the obligatory appearance of the vacuum cleaner to clear up all the little bits of decorations that linger on the carpet.  After all this activity I was able to log onto my computer for a few minutes before getting ready for my Sunday evening meal.

When I got up from the computer and left the room there was a heavy clunk as if something had fallen over.  When I went to investigate I couldn’t see that anything had moved and decided that it was the chair spinning round and hitting the desk.  I promptly forgot about it, until this morning…

When I opened the door to that room (the room I am in now) there was a little bit of resistance and it wouldn’t open fully.  When I managed to  open the door  and look behind it to investigate the problem I immediately noticed the word God glowing out from the dark and I could see a faint book outline underneath.  I bent down to pick the book up and realised that there were also two CDs on the floor as well.

I discovered the word God was on a bookmark. It is one I picked up a few years ago from St Mary’s Parish Church in Whitby whilst investigating my family history.  On one side of the bookmark there is a picture of the Church and on the other side the following quote:

God

Grant me

the Serenity

to accept the things

I cannot change,

Courage

to change

the things I can

and Wisdom

to know

the difference.

The other three things were also interesting…

The book was ‘Christy Moore, One Voice, My Life in Song’ – When I was campaigning against the moving of our work down south and the subsequent loss of skills, I used some of his songs in the campaign videos that I made.

One of the CDs contained photos taken by a colleague at a PCS conference a few years ago. Some of the photos on the disc were of an event where one of my campaign videos was shown – Tomorrow the first meeting takes place do discuss how we can raise awareness and campaign against the same issues.

The second CD had a few photographs that my Dad took of the flowers that I bought for my Mum’s 75th Birthday. She is 80 this year.

A message?…

The lack of proper negotiation led to the action that was taken by public sector workers today.

I found it quite infuriating to hear less than honest words spoken in the House today.

Below is an email sent from an MP to a PCS member last week.  Highlighted in red are some key points:

Thank you for your email about the strikes next week. I have to be in Westminster next Wednesday, however my position is clear and this is what I am saying to anyone who contacts me.

The government must bear much of the responsibility for what is happening now because it jumped the gun and has, in effect, imposed a 3% tax on public sector workers, before John Hutton published his final report on public sector pensions, and then refused to negotiate on this crucial issue. This surcharge has nothing to do with the sustainability of public sector pensions and will hit public sector workers on low incomes hard.

It increasingly seems that the government is happy to see a disruptive strike. According to the Daily Telegraph, David Cameron has privately said that he is ‘delighted’ that the unions have walked into his ‘trap’. This is no way to approach the long term needs of the country and workers who believed they had a deal on their pensions when they set out on a public service career.. The constant mantra about “gold plated” pensions is quite frankly insulting. The average pension paid to pensioner members is around £7,800 per year, while the median payment is around £5,600. Half of women public service pensioners get less than £4,000 a year.

If more people opt out of occupational schemes because they cannot afford to pay this increase, it could end up costing the tax payer more in the future as more people rely on means tested benefits. The imposition of a 3% surcharge for all employees is not only unfair in the short term but also risks the sustainability of public sector pension schemes in the long term.

The government announced a three pence in the pound increase in contributions in the October Spending Review, long before Lord Hutton had published his final report. The 3 pence in the pound increase has nothing to do with the wider reform agenda outlined by Hutton. It is a measure which is simply geared towards paying down the deficit by squeezing public sector workers. The increase was imposed without any negotiation with public sector unions. This increase amounts to a 3p in the pound increase in tax for public sector workers, at a time when they are already facing a pay freeze, higher inflation partly driven by the government’s VAT increase, not to mention the biggest squeeze in living standards in a generation.

I know that people who rely on services don’t want to see a strike: from parents who will have to take a day off work to those who rely on home help. And public sector workers— nursing assistants, teachers and dinner ladies—also care too much about the people they serve day in day out to consider action as anything other than a last resort.

Rather than telling hundreds of thousands of low paid, part-time working men and women who are set to be much worse off that they should not strike, David Cameron should be taking responsibility and trying to negotiate a deal that’s fair to public sector workers and taxpayers alike. That is what I want to see and that is why I support the action that union members are taking..

My recent series of posts on pensions only skim the surface of why so many ordinary people decided to take strike action today.

Yesterday was extremely busy and involved me getting up at the crack of dawn, which is unheard of for me.  The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union took joint industrial action with three teachers unions (National Union of Teachers (NUT), University and College Union (UCU) and Association of Teacher and Lecturers (ATL)).  These unions are trying to persuade the government that changes to public sector pensions and the sweeping cuts to the public sector are unnecessary and avoidable.  The one day strike could have been avoided if the government had engaged in meaningful negotiations and given ground on some of the key issues on the proposed changes to pensions.  Pension contributions of public sector workers are set to double or triple and the proposed age for claiming the pension could rise from 60 to 65 and eventually 68.

Yesterday saw picket lines outside schools and Civil Service establishments.  My workplace had picket lines outside each entrance and as I am on the PCS branch committee I was there, camera in hand.

PCS and Unite (who have a large membership in government pension schemes)  have recently signed an agreement to take part in joint campaigning.  Unite were unable to ballot their members in the time frame so they were unable to take part in the joint industrial action although  they were  able to show their support and help out in other ways.     There are a large number of Unite members at my workplace, a considerable number of them stopped their cars on the way into work so that they could talk the people on the picket lines.  This caused further disruption by causing the traffic to queue at times.

At lunch time the Unite members marched out of work to join the trade unionists who had been taking strike action and members of the public for a short march.  This was followed by a lunch time rally, which was so well attended that people spilled out from the main hall into adjoining rooms.  The rally was addressed by speakers from each of the unions including Gail Cartmail, Assistant General Secretary of Unite.  Gail exposed many myths that are pedalled by the media about public sector pensions and public sector cuts, after each exposé she got the room chanting “Its a big fat lie“.

The day was a huge success both locally and nationally.  The estimated turn out for my branch was 88% of members, with around 500 people taking part in the march

More information on the myths about the public sector can be found here.

For more of this weeks PhotoHunt pictures check out tnchick.

A letter published in the Financial Times on 25th February 2011 exposes the myth of the Public Sector stereotype:

Looking to hire? You’ll get a great recruit from the public sector

From Mr Ian Watmore,

Sir, I read Brian Groom’s report (February 21) on the perceived limited employability of public servants in the private sector with great dismay. As one who has worked for 25 years in the private sector, and now six in the public sector, my message is simple.

If you are looking to hire into your company, forget the myths and stereotypes, you will get a great recruit from the public sector.

Why do I say that? Because I cannot think of a single skill that one needs in the private sector that people don’t develop in spades in the public sector.

Operational management? What about running a prison of sex offenders. Technology skills? Nothing comes close to the scale and complexity of the tax and benefits system. Commercial skills? Have you ever let a contract for a science facility that accelerates electrons to near light speed? Customer relations? We serve everyone from the young and old, rich and poor, ill and healthy. Turnarounds? A failing company is one thing, a failing secondary school on a sink estate is quite another. Mergers and acquisitions? Try taking over a collapsing bank in a weekend. Human resources? Just imagine what is involved in sending civilians into Helmand province. Security? I’d have to shoot you if I told you what our security services do on a daily basis, but, trust me, we are lucky to have them. Public relations? Well, we are always in the Thick of It!

Even business development is hugely in evidence as civil servants promote Britain’s interests abroad, or work in successful trading funds such as the Ordnance Survey or Companies House.

Public servants manage complex, multi-billion pound businesses – indeed, my last job oversaw an annual budget of £20bn. It is this level of challenge that continues to attract the best graduates every year. Latest figures show that more than 22,000 people showed an interest in just over 600 Fast Stream jobs.

In my six years I have managed staff in Norwich and Newport, Sheffield and Scotland, Warrington and West Midlands, Liverpool and London. I am proud of every one of them, for the unsung successes they achieve, and the family and national crises they avert. I learnt much in my 25 years in business, but I continue to learn so much in the public sector too.

Many former civil servants can be found in FTSE 100 companies at all levels. Only this week, one of my most senior managers is leaving to join a renowned multinational committed to innovation and technology. This should be no surprise. The civil service has invested heavily in increasing its professionalism and now compares favourably when independently benchmarked with the private sector.

As the public sector shrinks to balance the budget deficit, we are letting go many talented people, for whom the job itself is as much the reward as the remuneration.

So please, forget the stereotypes, and join the ranks of the enlightened companies that are hiring people from the public sector. They will give you a great deal in both senses of the phrase.

Ian Watmore

Chief Operating Officer

UK Government

Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office

Index – Media myths about civil and public services.

The meeting itself was a little chaotic because most of the staff from the regional office were off sick. The regional secretary was also off sick and the guest speaker was unable to attend.

The office staff who arrange the meetings were amongst those off sick. Surprisingly the meeting went without any serious hitches and the only thing that was missing was cups for the tea and coffee.

I was re-elected onto the regional committee which meant that I had to attend a small follow on meeting where duties were allocated to the newly elected committee members. After the meeting there was time for a bit of networking and catching up with friends.

I had to hang around in Birmingham a little bit longer than I intended because whilst I was sleeping my plans for my final bit of Christmas shopping had been rearranged for me and fast forwarded from the planned Friday or Saturday…

I finally got home at 9pm, but at least all the shopping is done now

This is a photo from last Christmas, there was too much rushing around for a photo yesterday. The centre was a lot busier than it is in this photo.

So. Farewell then to the Metrix consortium and the crazily expensive plan to privatise defence training at a new academy in South Wales under a PFI contract which rose from £11bn to £14bn and was plagued by delays.

Defence secretary Liam Fox has admitted: “It is now clear that Metrix cannot deliver an affordable, commercially robust proposal within the prescribed period and it has therefore been necessary to terminate the [defence training] procurement and Metrix’s appointment as preferred bidder.”

If only Fox’s predecessors had paid more attention and heeded what the Eye has been saying for many years.  In 2006 Eye 1164 pointed out that “another crucial service is being privatised to take advantage of accounting tricks”.  And in June 2008 we exposed MoD documents already showing an “affordability gap”  and a host of internally acknowledged  reasons why the deal was a thoroughly bad idea.  But still the MoD ploughed on – simply to get the cost of the wretched academy off the government’s books under PFI’s accounting “magic”.

Right click on the image and choose view to read the full article.

A fellow blogger Chrissy has expressed it far better than I could:

For those of you reading this who imagine “Civil Servants” to be members of the bowler hat brigade in the corridors of power let me take this opportunity to advise that civil servants fulfil a number of every day roles within your community most of whom you wouldn’t realise until they are gone!….. Civil servants are sitting beside their military colleagues, running citizens advice bureau’s, teaching children, taking away bed pans, cleaning corridors, the Police, the Firemen, Prison Officers, advising the unemployed, the list goes on! I find myself wondering who is going to advise us!

These people are carrying out work for a reasonable wage and have worked under fixed terms and conditions throughout their career, bearing in mind negotiations for a number of years have resulted in a reduction in potential wage increases simply because it was felt that civil servants have such good terms that this should be reflected in the wage expected!…. Now it seems that our employers have no honour and think that they can play with our lives as they see fit!….

Head over to Chrissy’s blog to read the full article and view the illustrative artwork that accompanies the post.