UNIONS should co-ordinate strikes for above-inflation pay rises in the public sector, TUC Congress heard today.
Civil Service union PCS said its members were still subject to a pay cap despite the government partially removing it for other public-sector workers.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “Civil Service workers and those in related areas were treated like second-class workers this summer when the government refused to lift the pay cap.”
The Tories introduced the 50% strike ballot threshold to make industrial action harder. MATT WRACK argues that a Labour government has no justification for leaving it on the statute book
In part IV of a serialisation of his new book, JOHN McINALLY tells how austerity minister Francis Maude’s attempt to destroy the PCS Civil Service union totally backfired
Our members face serious violence, crumbling workplaces and exposure to dangerous drugs — it is outrageous we still cannot legally use our industrial muscle to fight back and defend ourselves, writes STEVE GILLAN



