Monday, November 4, 2013

Merci beaucoup! 1,200 UK civil servants lose their jobs to boost profits of French firms


pcs_logoPCS has condemned the government for privatising more than 1,200 civil servants.
The union says staff working in DWP, DEFRA and EA HR, finance and procurement will now be employed by Shared Services Connected Limited (SSCL), which is 75% owned by Steria a French private company.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said “PCS condemns yet another government sell-off where they put profits before people. Civil Servants will lose their jobs to boost the profits of a private firm. We will continue to challenge the decision to send work offshore especially from areas where there is already high unemployment.”

They will be handling the personal data of 150,000 civil servants initially but this figure is expected to increase as the new company potentially bids for more work from the rest of the civil service in the future.

It has been confirmed that post transfer there will be significant restructuring, site consolidation and offshoring. All of which will result in high levels of job losses. While the government has given the go ahead in principle to the idea of offshoring, the company has yet to receive accreditation for its plans.

Work will be offshored to India, a country where concerns have been raised by the EU about the security of data. The decision also comes at a time when some big multi- national companies are reconsidering the amount of work they send overseas.

The union anticipates that only two or three of the existing sites in Cardiff, Blackpool, Newcastle, Sheffield, York, Alnwick and Peterborough will remain open, which will mean job losses in areas which already have high unemployment.

PCS has run a vigorous campaign against the privatisation and offshoring and members strongly supported strike action on 25 October.

Further action on 31 October was suspended as some progress has been made in terms of protections for members, however the campaign continues to win further protections and prevent the offshoring of work.

Source