PCS: May Day message from PCS general secretary and president

Tuesday, 3 May 2011 12:00 AM

May Day message from Public and Commercial Services general secretary Mark Serwotka and the union's national president Janice Godrich:

"May Day is a time for working people and communities to unite in solidarity, to fight for our rights, to stand up for equality, justice and peace.

"This is as important now as it has ever been. Barely a year in, this government has sparked a wave of popular anger against its ideological plan to blame and punish us for an economic crisis caused by greed and recklessness in the financial sector.

"But we are not just angry, we are also determined. Determined to resist these cuts to prevent the damage we know they will cause to jobs and working conditions, and to our communities.

"No government in living memory has sparked such unrest and opposition to its central economic policy in such a short space of time.

"And no government in living memory has been so weak. Neither party in the coalition won the election, with the Lib Dems coming a distant third, and they have no mandate to impose their ideology upon us.

"There is a strong anti-cuts mood in the country and we are proud of the role PCS has played in this. We can win if we stand together.

"We are committed to continuing to make the case for unity and to oppose all cuts, not because it is a simple slogan, but because it is right. The cuts are not just unfair, they are totally unnecessary, and there is an alternative.

"We refuse to be forced to choose between the old and the young, those in work and those out of work, the healthy and the sick. "At least half a million people showed on 26 March that they were prepared to march for the alternative. We are now saying we must also be prepared to strike for it."

ENDS

Notes

- For information and interview requests contact PCS national press officer Richard Simcox on 020 7801 2747 or 07833 978216

- The Public and Commercial Services union represents civil and public servants in central government. It has more than 300,000 members in over 200 departments and agencies, and in parts of government transferred to the private sector. PCS is the UK's sixth largest union and is affiliated to the TUC. The general secretary is Mark Serwotka and the president is Janice Godrich - on Twitter @janicegodrich

- Follow PCS on Twitter @pcs_union

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