Yesterday’s strike by public sector workers in protest against pension reforms attracted ‘unprecedented’ support according to the union representing most HMRC staff, and the union representing senior tax officials told Tax Journal that the ‘vast majority’ of its members also took action.
An HMRC spokesman told Tax Journal that about 55% of HMRC staff took part, according to the department’s own estimates.
But the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), which represents almost 60,000 HMRC staff as well as civil servants in other government departments, said yesterday that an estimated 84% of PCS members were staying away from work. The Guardian reported that Mark Serwotka, the leader of the PCS, said reports from picket lines showed ‘a huge turnout, with up to 90% of staff in some government departments, including HMRC, taking action’.
Members of the Association of Revenue and Customs (ARC), representing senior HMRC staff, took part in rallies in London, Nottingham and Bristol.
Graham Black, ARC President, told Tax Journal: ‘On what we know in ARC, it appears that we had between 80% and 90% of our members taking action yesterday, and that included large numbers in the Senior Civil Service. ARC [a section of FDA] and FDA have never been militant unions, and this was the first experience of strike action for most of our members – but they responded in huge numbers, because they know that they are being treated unfairly.’
Investment
Black said it was ‘clear that the vast majority of ARC and PCS members took action, not to bring the country to a halt, but to send out a message that they would not be bullied’.
He added: ‘Everyone has to take a share of the pain in these economic circumstances, but the public sector should not take a disproportionate burden for an economic mess create by others.
‘ARC has consistently shown that if money is needed, investing in HMRC will enable us to bring more funding in to the exchequer from those who are evading or avoiding. The government chooses not to do this, but to impose a tax on public servants instead.’
An account of the day’s events, posted on the PCS website, indicated that 95% of HMRC staff in Blackburn supported the strike and that two enquiry centres in East Lancashire were closed.
The PCS said more than 400 HMRC members at Cotton House, Glasgow took strike action, with ‘only four members going into work, making the office non-functional’.
Yesterday’s strike by public sector workers in protest against pension reforms attracted ‘unprecedented’ support according to the union representing most HMRC staff, and the union representing senior tax officials told Tax Journal that the ‘vast majority’ of its members also took action.
An HMRC spokesman told Tax Journal that about 55% of HMRC staff took part, according to the department’s own estimates.
But the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), which represents almost 60,000 HMRC staff as well as civil servants in other government departments, said yesterday that an estimated 84% of PCS members were staying away from work. The Guardian reported that Mark Serwotka, the leader of the PCS, said reports from picket lines showed ‘a huge turnout, with up to 90% of staff in some government departments, including HMRC, taking action’.
Members of the Association of Revenue and Customs (ARC), representing senior HMRC staff, took part in rallies in London, Nottingham and Bristol.
Graham Black, ARC President, told Tax Journal: ‘On what we know in ARC, it appears that we had between 80% and 90% of our members taking action yesterday, and that included large numbers in the Senior Civil Service. ARC [a section of FDA] and FDA have never been militant unions, and this was the first experience of strike action for most of our members – but they responded in huge numbers, because they know that they are being treated unfairly.’
Investment
Black said it was ‘clear that the vast majority of ARC and PCS members took action, not to bring the country to a halt, but to send out a message that they would not be bullied’.
He added: ‘Everyone has to take a share of the pain in these economic circumstances, but the public sector should not take a disproportionate burden for an economic mess create by others.
‘ARC has consistently shown that if money is needed, investing in HMRC will enable us to bring more funding in to the exchequer from those who are evading or avoiding. The government chooses not to do this, but to impose a tax on public servants instead.’
An account of the day’s events, posted on the PCS website, indicated that 95% of HMRC staff in Blackburn supported the strike and that two enquiry centres in East Lancashire were closed.
The PCS said more than 400 HMRC members at Cotton House, Glasgow took strike action, with ‘only four members going into work, making the office non-functional’.
