Latest editorial
A picket line in Manchester this morning where members of PCS union working in the magistrates court were out on strike over a computer system the courts service is implementing slowly through the system
[Neil Terry Photography / neilterryphotography.co.uk]
Cabinet Office sets out plan for bringing services like cleaning and security back in-house
STAFF at 68 magistrates’ courts across England and Wales have gone on strike over a computer system which they say is wrecking their working lives.
Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), including court legal advisers, say that the Common Platform computer system forced on them by HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) is “unworkable.”
The nine-day strike, which began on Saturday, was due to have taken place sooner but was postponed after the death of Elizabeth Windsor.
Outsourcing is at the heart of inequality. Only collective unity in the trade union movement can topple the Establishment’s obsession with it, says SAM GURNEY
CWU leader DAVE WARD tells Ben Chacko a strategy to unite workers on class lines is needed – and sectoral collective bargaining must be at its heart
PCS members face dangerous working conditions in crumbling buildings while the Common Platform IT system obstructs rather than streamlines operations — and Labour’s promised wave of insourcing has not materialised, writes SHARON McLEAN