All Out On 17 June

As part of our Fair Deal in Defence campaign that is intertwined with the PCS national campaign to safeguard pay, pensions, terms and conditions, PCS Defence Sector members will take one-day strike action on Monday 17 June.

This one-day strike action replaces the strike action that was postponed on Wednesday 29 May after the tragic incident just outside Woolwich Garrison in London. As a mark of respect and in solidarity with our military colleagues, our union had postponed that one-day strike action.

Members in the defence sector have been magnificent in their support on 20 March and the half-day strike on 5 April. Members will also have seen in recent weeks members from numerous PCS groups take action as part of our national union’s strategy. Last week, members in the two biggest PCS groups – DWP and Revenue and Customs – took very successful action.

Our union believes that the national strikes in March and April along with the regional rolling strikes and short-term disruption will deliver a result that gets Francis Maude back to the negotiating table.

Conclusion

PCS members in the Ministry of Defence can no longer cover for the 24,000+ staff that have left since the SDSR announcement in the autumn of 2010. With no corresponding reduction in outputs to the work we produce, we are left with little option but to strike, as all we get is attack after attack on our misplaced loyalty:

• Performance management arrangements that will see 5% of members sacked for political ideology.
• Ongoing pay restraint seeing members forced into work poverty and on occasions having to choose between feeding themselves and their family or paying travel costs to work.
• Two pension contribution increases already with more to follow. The ‘reward’ – work longer and get less.
• Further attacks to our terms and conditions. The MoD will have to take its share of the pain in the June spending review. We are in little doubt this pain will once again be passed on to MoD civilians.

Government ministers refuse to talk to our union nationally and we are treated with contempt in the MoD as we try and get a Fair Deal in Defence. We now need to take strike action so that we can give every member a Fair Deal in Defence.

STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS – ALL OUT ON 17 JUNE