Strike Boosts Lincolnshire Businesses

Business leaders say the strike over public sector pensions brought an unexpected and welcome boost to trade in the county, reports the Lincolnshire Echo.

Two million public sector workers walked out on strike across Britain.

More than one hundred of the three hundred and sixty-seven schools in the county were closed and three hundred county council workers (10% of the workforce) – downed tools.

Protesters took part in a small march through Lincoln city centre, culminating at the Lincoln Drill Hall.

Prime Minister David Cameron rightly branded the industrial action 'a damp squib' that failed to cripple Britain.

It turns out that the strikes had one unintended outcome; any traders here saw an upturn in business.

Mr. Simon Beardsley, Chief Executive of Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce, said:

"An indirect result seems to be that last Wednesday was a better day for retailers as it has given some parents who have children off school the opportunity to go Christmas shopping, therefore a potential benefit to the economy.

"This may just be timing, in that they will buy now rather than closer to Christmas, but this is likely to be a comfort to cash flow at this time."

Mr. Beardsley said the main impact was the knock-on effects from school closures with parents taking the day off the look after children.

"It is difficult in such circumstances to place a value on the disruption as this cover may have been accommodated from existing holiday allocation and as such the impact is felt more directly by employees losing holiday allocation.

"Our major concern is if the frequency of the dispute increases and accommodation becomes more difficult, as this is when businesses are also likely to see direct impacts in terms of operating costs and lost revenue."

Mr. Barry Reeves, Chairman of Sincil Street Traders, in Lincoln, who runs the Central Snacks cafe on the market, said:

"Can we have another strike soon? By going on strike, they turned last Wednesday into a bumper day of trade. It couldn't have come at a better time."

It is likely that the boost in trade will be reflected the quarterly figures for the last three months of the year and will give the government a boost as well in January.

Jobcentres to be hit in 48-hour walk-out

More than a quarter of a million civil servants are to take strike for a forty-eight hour period over redundancy pay, in what will be the biggest unrest by the sector in more than two decades.

Courts, ports, job and tax centres and emergency police call centres will be hit by the walkout by members of the Public and Commercial Services Union.

Services at Jobcentres across Lincolnshire and other government offices will grind to a halt today.

The walk-out today and continuing into Tuesday will affect courts and tax offices, while driving tests may well be postponed. Strike action looks likely to hit civil and public services every week of this month after the union ballot showed 63.4% of members who voted backing strike action and 81.4% supporting an overtime ban.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services union are angry about government moves to cut redundancy terms, which can currently lead to pay-outs of up to six-and-a-half years' worth of salary.

Analysts say the average severance payment is three years of pay – much more generous than most public sector schemes. However, union members say any plan to reduce that would hit staff hard at a time when the recession is hitting people in the pocket.

Mr. Graham Peck, Public and Commercial Services Union, Lincolnshire Branch Secretary, representing workers at the Department for Work and Pensions, has been reported in the Lincolnshire Echo as saying that any plans to reduce protection for members would lead to more people being compulsorily made redundant or having their jobs privatised.

"The strike action will affect Jobcentres across the county as well as the Jobcentre and Jobcentre call centre in Lincoln and the courts and other government departments," he said.

"We have 470-odd members in the county, including 250 in Lincoln, and we know that a lot of them are walking out, along with a lot of non-members.

"Our members face losing a great deal of money.

"The Government is arguing that the public knows why we are going on strike but we don't believe they do."

Cabinet Office minister, Tessa Jowell MP, is reported by BBC News as saying that the decision to strike was 'very disappointing', particularly as 'less than one in five' of PCS members voted in favour of the action, representing 'only around 10% of the total civil service workforce'.


She said:

"The changes to the civil service compensation scheme were agreed with five of the six civil service unions after 18 months of negotiation and consultation. These unions all agree with us that the resulting deal is fair for staff and taxpayers.

"During the negotiating process, we responded to union concerns by ensuring additional protection for lower paid staff.

"Those earning £30,000 or less - 80% of all staff - will still get up to between two and three years salary, while civil servants earning over £30,000 will have redundancy pay capped at two times salary.

"This package brings the civil service more into line with the rest of the public sector and still offers more generous terms than much of the private sector."