PCS Scotland Press Release - “WICK WON WORK” UNION VICTORY

“WICK WON WORK” UNION VICTORY

Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) members and the people in the town of Wick are today celebrating a successful campaign to keep the Wick tax office open until 2014. 

A "model campaign" to prevent the closure of a tax office in a small town in the far north of Scotland has successfully won a reprieve, the PCS union announces.

"WON" Logo - available in a variety of colours!

The union-led Wick Wants Work campaign, launched seven months ago to stop the planned closure of the office in 2012, has won support from members of the public, politicians from all parties and other trade unions, notably the Scottish Trades Union Congress.



As a result HM Revenue and Customs senior management has announced the office, which employs just 20 staff but covers a geographical area the size of Belgium, will stay open until 2014.

The town offers no other redeployment opportunities and the union has pledged to continue to fight to keep the office open permanently.

Like others across the UK, tax compliance staff in Wick work to help tackle the estimated £120 billion in taxes that are evaded, avoided or uncollected every year.

PCS Scottish Secretary Lynn Henderson said: "This has been a fantastic campaign which has been fought and won locally.  I am proud of the role PCS members have played in the campaign and not only has it put Wick on the map for those fighting the Con Dem cuts, but can be held up as an exemplar campaign model across the trade union movement involving communities and trade unions locally and nationally.

"Our members have vowed to continue with campaign and to stand shoulder to shoulder with the local community to ensure the threat of closure is withdrawn.”

PCS Office Secretary Allan Tait said “we have put a tremendous amount of effort into the campaign and I would like to thank everyone for their support to date.  This is, however, not the end of the campaign but simply an important key milestone.  We have a long a very long road ahead of us until we achieve our ultimate goal which is to remove the closure threat completely.”


ENDS


Notes
The Public & Commercial Services Union represents over 270,000 members in the civil and public services and in the privatised commercial sector, over 34,000 of which are in Scotland.  It is the 5th largest trade union affiliated to the TUC and STUC. The general secretary is Mark Serwotka and the president is Janice Godrich - on Twitter @ janicegodrich.  The Scottish secretary is Lynn Henderson.

- Follow PCS Scotland on Twitter @pcs_scotland

Huzzah!

Thanks to James in Campaigns for this:

Snappier than "Wick Got Work" - the perils of trying to break news!  This is the line we're using now...

NEWSFLASH - WICK GOT WORK!

WICK GOT WORK!

We are absolutely ecstatic to report the news that HMRC at 2pm today announced to Campaigning PCS Members in the Wick Tax Office that in the face of massive political pressure, the decision has been taken to retain an office presence in Wick until at least 2014.

The Wick Wants Work campaign has, over the last seven months, worked hard to build the profile and the political contact that led to this Political pressure being applied, and our thanks are due to everyone who has shared the message and supported the Campaign.

Formed and directed by Members of the Public & Commercial Services Union, the Campaign has benefitted hugely from the support of the public in Caithness and across Scotland, and of PCS Reps, Members and other Trade Unionists, in  particular the General Council and Staff of the Scottish Trades Union Congress.

Wick is a unique place, with Unique characteristics.  A wee town in the far North of Scotland, it represented a Unique challenge in terms of the complete lack of redeployment opportunities for staff should the Office have Closed, and the Geographical Area covered by the office (an area the size of Belgium) added weight to the message that the retention of HMRC Compliance Work was vital.

Welcoming the decision today, the Executive Committe of PCS for members in Revenue & Customs offered particular congratulations and Thanks to Allan Tait, local PCS Office Secretary in Wick, to Lewis Bevan,Lorna Merry and Simon Boniface as the negotiating team, and to the members of the Executive that have been active in supporting the Campaign.

Whilst very happy with the reprieve provided by today's announcement, Campaigners are clear that the Campaign is not over, and that the fight to retain these jobs, and to bring more work to Caithness, both in HMRC and in other areas of both the Public and the Private Sectors will continue.

Thanks again to everyone for your support thus far, and for the support that you will give in the future.  Today's news once again demonstrates that when the political will is there, no fate, no matter how bleakly it is presented, is absolute.  The about turn by HMRC on Wick is a win for the Campaign, and is a win for campaigners against closures across the UK.

Wick Got Work because of you.  Thank you.

Campaign Badges now available!

Actual Dimensions 30mm x 20mm approx, enamel.

With the petition at http://wickwants.epetitions.net still on the go, we are happy to announce that you can now display your support for the Wick Wants Work campaign (and donate to the PCS Revenue & Customs Group Hardship Fund) through the purchase of one of these limited edition enamel badges.  The first 500 have been produced in silver and dark blue, and are available at the price of £3 each (although donations of more are greatly appreciated from those who can afford it) or £2.50 each for orders of more than one.

If you would like to buy a badge (or badges) please email Drummondpcs (at) AOL (dot) com.  Trade Union Branches wishing to order a larger number can do so on a sale or return basis.

EDIT:  A limited run of 10 badges are being sold on auction site eBay - these badges will be accompanied by a personalised letter of thanks from the campaign and some stickers. 5 are currently up, the first being at this link - bidding opens at £3 (plus P&P) and after fees all of the bid price (and any change from actual postage costs possibly being slightly lower) will again go to the hardship fund.

June Update

A collage of some of the supporting photos we have received / taken

Sorry for the delay in posting this, but things are moving on a daily basis, making it very difficult to choose the point at which to give an update.

Currently, after further political interventions by John Thurso and Danny Alexander, HMRC are actively investigating the possibility of alternative, cheaper, office accommodation offered by Highlands & Islands Enterprise.

Issues remain, however, around the work that would be done in these new premises, as thanks to a Recruitment Freeze over the past five years, HMRC's Compliance section (the people who chase up tax dodgers) say they are worried about succession planning.

Campaigners have highlighted that this is, in effect, a vicious circle - the department decided to close Wick Office, so they didn't recruit anyone new.  Because there's nobody new, they believe they have to close the office.  The Wick Wants Work Campaign has therefore drawn up a petition at http://wickwants.epetitions.net/, which we would ask you both to sign and to share widely with friends and colleagues in support of the Campaign to bring work to Wick. 

With a bit of lateral thinking, the succession solution that Wick Wants Work Campaigners see as the obvious one is to recruit new blood into HMRC Wick - Unemployment in the area is high, and there is a skilled potential workforce in the area who would love the chance to get involved in closing the Tax Gap and working to create a better society. £900 million is being reinvested into HMRC Compliance work, and there is no reason why a tiny fraction of this could not be invested in Caithness to succession-proof Wick.

While Wick Wants Work Campaigners are advancing these arguments, however, the sword of Damocles hangs over the Office.  At the start of June, Voluntary Redundancy offers were made to staff under the terms of the new Civil Service Compensation Scheme.

The new scheme, which was imposed against the wishes of staff by an act of Parliament, is structured in such a way as to penalise staff for failure to volunteer for redundancy - and, even if the should choose voluntary redundancy, is worth less than 2/3 of the entitlement of many under the former scheme.


A further meeting is being arranged with John Thurso MP, and Wick will be high on the agenda when the PCS Union holds a reception for MPs on the 6th of July.

Your support thus far has been invaluable, and we hope you will sign the petition at http://wickwants.epetitions.net/ and share the link as widely as possible to add to the pressure on HMRC to commit to supporting the Caithness economy.

PCS Group Conference Unanimously supports Wick Wants Work

Just a brief note to share this photo and highlight the fact that the PCS Revenue & Customs Group Conference unanimously carried the Emergency Motion moved by Aberdeen & Inverness Branch below:



 "That this Group Conference expresses its great concern that, despite the absence of alternative work within Reasonable Daily Travel, HMRC chose, on the 9th of March, to announce their intention to vacate their premises in Wick, and offer Members there voluntary exits.

This Conference congratulates members in Wick on their resolve to fight for the retention of their jobs, and endorses the campaigning goals of the "Wick Wants Work" Campaign, as detailed at http://wickwantswork.blogspot.com.

Conference calls upon the Group Executive to continue to support members in Wick, and across Aberdeen & Inverness Branch as they fight to keep jobs in Caithness, and instructs the GEC negotiators to leave no avenue unexplored in their attempts to ensure that agreements are honoured and alternative work found.

In commending the campaign, and the efforts of the GEC thus far in support of these members, Conference makes clear its forthright opposition to any suggestion of unwanted compulsory redundancy, and instructs the GEC to, should this be mooted by the Official Side at any point, both to convene immediately to consider the strongest Group response possible and to refer the matter to the National Executive Committee for their consideration of a National response.

Conference furthermore takes this opportunity to ask Delegates, Trainees, Observers, Guest Speakers and members of the GEC and VOAC to dig deep in their pockets in support of the Group Hardship Fund, buy a "Wick Wants Work!" Badge and have their photograph taken wearing it in support of the campaign."

Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, we didn't get the badges done, but the paragraph before was the important one, and Conference Unanimously supported the motion as moved by Mark Chapman, Branch President.

In other news, on Friday 13th May, Campaigners met with Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, to express concerns regarding the proposed closure of Wick Tax Office.

The meeting, which lasted approximately twenty minutes, hopefully ended well, with Danny Alexander expressing his support for the retrention of HMRC work in Wick in alternative, cheaper premises, and agreeing to wreite to Lesley Strathie setting out his support for such.

Wick Wants Work statement on Caithness, Sutherland & Ross Election

Follwing the announcement yesterday of the Election to Holyrood of Rob Gibson as the constituency MSP for Caithness, Sutherland & Ross, the Wick Wants Work Campaign would like to extend our congratulations to Rob, who, as a major plank in an excellent campaign, made his support both for the 20 staff in Wick HMRC, and the wider Wick Wants Work campaign, very public, and raised the profile of both considerably, for which we are very grateful.

Rob Gibson, the new Member of the Scottish Parliament for Caithness, Sutherland & Ross,  pictured alongside the other candidates at the recent "Wick Wants Work" Hustings in Wick Assembly Rooms

The other candidates in the election, John Mackay, Edward Mountain and Robbie Rowantree, were also vocal in their support, and we commend each one of them on fighting good, clean campaigns in the purest of spirits.  We hope their support for the campaign will continue as active citizens, councillors and members of the community, and we wish them well.


The Holyrood elections have done much to focus minds on the Caithness economy, and we cannot let the increased profile of the campaign diminish.  The unprecedented result, both in terms of a massive swing in the Caithness, Sutherland & Ross constituency and across Scotland as a whole, reflect a strong tide of public opinion in Scotland against the Westminster coalition Government and its austerity measures, and across Scotland, SNP candidates made clear their support for a Tax Justice agenda that would ensure fairness for all, and for a growth based strategy to tackle the economic downturn.


Keeping the Wick Tax Office open, and investing in sustainable jobs in Caithness, would contribute to both of these goals, and we will shortly be writing to Rob and the First Minister, Alex Salmond, who was also a vocal supporter of the Campaign, highlighting this and asking them to outline how they intend to help progress the Campaign's goals.

Quick Hustings Report

It were Braw!

The Candidates (L-R Edward Mountain, Robbie Rowantree, John Mackay and Rob Gibson) show their support for the campaign following a successful hustings.

The Hustings last night, chaired by PCS GEC member John Davidson, attracted an audience of 53, who put the four candidates for the Scottish Parliamentary constituency of Caithness, Sutherland & Ross on the spot over issues affecting members of the local community throughout their lives, from primary school classrooms to services for pensioners, along with a number of questions pertaining in particular to the jobs in HMRC Wick Office.

Regardless of party allegiance, each candidate pledged their support to the Wick Wants Work campaign in their introductory speech, and in the questioning that followed, each one was compelled by the audience to outline further what they would do for staff in the tax office, for Dounreay workers and for others in the constituency who face an uncertain future as a result of the coming blows to the local economy.

Despite some significant politcal differences, the hustings was good spirited, and the light, but strategically applied touch of the chair meant that in all eleven audience questions were put to the candidates, before audience members were invited to join  candidates and campaigners for a photo opportunity with the campaign banner.

The Wick Wants Work Campaign would like to extend grateful thanks to all who took part for making the event a success, and would be using this space to offer a major plug to the supplier of the PA system had your correspondent thought to ask!

STUC Congress 2011 report

Shortly before the 114th Annual Congress of the STUC was due to commence, the Wick Wants Work Campaign, which had planned to have a presence on the Fringe of the Conference, were contacted and invited to participate in the opening session of Congress as an "exemplary campaign uniting workers and communities", that dovetailed perfectly with the STUC's primary campaign of the moment, "There is a Better Way".


Greatly honoured by this invitation, the campaign gratefully accepted, and in a very well received contribution, your correspondent took advantage of the session to raise awareness amongst the 350+ key Trade Union Activists and Campaigners about the issues affecting Wick and Caithness.

As the week progressed, campaign volunteers Russell Sanderson and Ann Curran gave up their time to provide delegates with stickers and briefings, and an impromptu photo opportunity outside the Congress Hall saw next Year's President of the British TUC, Michael Leahy of Community, join Campaigners from across Scotland with the Wick Wants Work Banner (held proudly by Dave Alexander and John Deighan of Thurso & Wick Trades Council).

The third day of Congress saw an emergency motion on the Campaign, raised by the Public & Commercial Services Union, carried with the Unanimous support of Delegates, and givinga final boost to the campaign before Congress closed.

Throughout Congress, Campaigners in the Hall, and the volunteers staffing the Campaign stall, were constantly approached with messages of support from across Scotland, messages that mean a lot to those worried for their livelihoods in Wick and across Caithness, with Alex Salmond again voicing his support for the Campaign following his guest speech.

The STUC gave a shot in the arm to the campaign, and it is hoped that at the Scottish Parliamentary Hustings tomorrow night, the momentum gained can be used to exert pressure on candidates to commit to the Campaign!

Wick Wants Work Campaigners intend to Make Their Votes Count

Hot on the back of a very positive meeting with Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond, Wick Wants Work Campaigners have made clear their intention to keep up the pressure on potential Scottish Parliamentarians, organising a Public Hustings for Candidates for the Scottish Parliamentary constituency of Caithness, Sutherland and Ross.

This "Question Time" style event, which will be held in Wick's Assembly Rooms,7-9pm on Tuesday 26th April, will allow Campaigners and community supporters the chance to put questions to candidates about what they will do to defend existing jobs in Caithness, and what they propose to bring further work to the area.

The event, which is open to all, will focus in particular on jobs and the future of the local economy, but questions on all topics are welcome, and can be notified in advance to Drummondpcs@aol.com

Questions on the night will also be accepted at the discretion of the Chair, and subject to timing constraints.

Commenting, local PCS Rep and Wick Wants Work Campaigner, Allan Tait, said "The Hustings on the 26th will give the people of Caithness the chance to grill candidates on what they will do to avoid further Highland Clearances.  The loss of work in Caithness is not just about a temporary drop in income, but about the loss of a future.  Action is required to turn things around, and on the 26th of April, candidates to represent us in the Scottish Parliament will be asked to commit to that action.  We extend an invitation to all concerned inhabitants of Caithness to get along and put the candidates on the spot."

Alex Salmond gets in on the act

Members of staff from the HMRC office in Wick which is scheduled to close within the next year took the opportunity to highlight their case to save the office with the visiting First Prime Minister Alex Salmond whilst he visited the town.

As part of the “Wick Wants Work” campaign, supported by their union the PCS, staff displayed their banner and handed out leaflets to members of the public in the town centre before discussing the campaign with Mr Salmond. PCS member Alison Swanson said “they were delighted that Mr Salmond took the time out of his busy schedule to speak with them. He was aware of the proposals to close the office and fully backed the efforts of the staff to persuade the Westminster Government to change this decision”. Mrs Swanson said that everyone in the office was extremely upset to hear just last week that HMRC were preparing to employ 1,000 new staff to cope with a backlog of work just days after they confirmed the decision to pull out of Wick.

Allan Tait, the PCS rep in the office said “the meetings with Mr Salmond and his fellow MSP Rob Gibson had been an ideal opportunity to highlight the folly of centralisation of Government work. Both the Westminster Government and the Scottish Parliament had a policy of moving out work from the Cities but the reality as far as the people of Caithness was concerned seemed to be somewhat different”. Mr Tait said “a lot of effort would be required to support the Caithness economy as employment at the Dounreay nuclear power station falls from its current level of 3,000 to a skeleton staff over the next 5 - 10 years as the plant is decommissioned. The Government has to play its part by not only maintaining the public sector work already in the area but expanding by using the available pool of talented people in the County. If this does not happen there will be no future for the young people in Caithness and we will be looking at a modern day Highland Clearances”

Despite the experience of the 20 staff in Wick, HMRC no longer see a future for the Office as it does not fit into their location strategy. The nearest remaining HMRC office to Wick is situated in the Highland capital of Inverness a two and a half hours drive away.

Mr Tait said the “Wick Wants Work” campaign had received considerable support from local politicians, agencies and the general public who cannot understand that at a time the government are desperate for money they are closing a low cost office that is capable of bringing in tax proceeds many times what it costs to run”.

Mr Tait confirmed the campaign would go on until the government and HMRC see sense and the staff are planning a visit to Inverness to lobby Danny Alexander MP who as Chief Secretary to the Treasury has considerable influence concerning decisions affecting HMRC”. There is also a hustings being arranged for prospective Scottish Parliament candidates in the Assembly rooms in Wick on Tuesday the 26^th of April at 6pm.

The closure of the Wick office would result in no HMRC presence North of Inverness apart from an enquiry centre open in Wick for only a few hours, one day a week.

About to kick off

The room is set up for this evening's workshop on campaigning skills, and it doesn't look too shabby.

Local MP, John Thurso, has been active again, grilling HMRC boss Leslie Strathie, who has offered to meet with him to discuss the concerns he has raised, and the local coverage of the campaign has been excellent.

Tonight should lead to more energy and confidence in the local campaigning work, and thanks to the hard work of Neil Bell, PCS learning project officer for the Highlands and Islands, who will be speaking about Skills for Life and the European Social Fund, refreshments are being provided!

Letters of support

Two hugely appreciated letters of support have arrived, the first of which came from the PCS Branch in East Kilbride, the second from Dundee:

To: Marjory Shane, Branch Secretary, Mark Chapman Branch Chair, Hamish Drummond, GEC & all colleagues in Wick

From: Alex Wilson, Branch Secretary, & Bob Farmer, Branch Chair, East Kilbride Revenue & Customs Branch

Date: 17/3/11

Subject: Wick Wants Work campaign

Marjory, Mark, Hamish, all,

I’m writing to you formally to express our support for the campaign to retain an HMRC presence in Wick.

As fellow PCS members we are only too well aware of the threat of closure to many offices in the HMRC estate and the massive impact such closures have on the members affected & local community. We understand the particular impact the closure of Wick would have given the lack of any other Government office in the area.

We believe this cut is unnecessary and avoidable, in fact given the HMRC NPS system which can send work to any network computer anywhere in the country we believe those working for HMRC in the area could easily be increased. We believe that only through increases in staffing can the billions of uncollected, evaded and legally avoided be properly addressed and believe the people of Wick can play an intrinsic role in addressing this tax gap.

If there is anything we, our Branch Committee or our members can do to support the campaign further please don’t hesitate to contact us,

Alex Wilson

PCS Branch Secretary 

Bob Farmer

PCS Branch Chairperson

East Kilbride Revenue Branch

The second, equally appreciated, came from Dundee Branch:

PCS Revenue & Customs Dundee Branch

HMRC Sidlaw House

4 Explorer Road

Dundee

DD2 1DX

23 March 2011

Dear Allan,

Please pass on to members and campaigners in Wick a message of solidarity and support from Dundee Branch.

The fight you have put up in recent years has been inspirational, and we wholeheartedly endorse the campaigning objectives of the Wick Wants Work Campaign.

Rural Scotland has been hit hard by the recession, and the loss of jobs in the Private Sector must not be compounded by the withdrawal of Public Sector work also.

As you fight for your livelihoods, know that we stand alongside you, and please let us know if there are any actions that we as a Branch can take in support of your Campaign.

Yours Fraternally,

Kenny Watson

PCS Acting Branch Secretary

A few short updates

Just a few wee updates - apologies for the lack of a coherent narrative to them, but just wanted to flag up a few points in a hurry!

Letters have been set to both Danny Alexander, MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and Jamie Stone, MSP, highlighting the plight of Wick staff and seeking their action to secure continuing employment on the closure of the Tax Gap in Wick.  When we get their responses, a further update will be posted.

The agenda for a training workshop to be held in Wick on the evening of  the 31st of March has now been completed, and the venue booked.  Please contact Neil Bell if you are interested in taking part.

A branch briefing has been issued to PCS Branches in Revenue & Customs, and within 24 hours, orders for 1400 extra stickers had been received from around the country, which is outstanding!

Finally, the Wick Wants Work! banner was again unfolded on Friday at a meeting of the PCS Scotland Committee, at which support for the campaign was unanimous.

£16,000,000,000 lost to the economy, MP meeting, stickers!

It speaks for itself, really...


On Friday past, WWW Campaigners met with local MP, John Thurso, and Highlands & Islands Enterprise, to bring them up to speed on the response to Wednesday's announcement, and discuss the way forward for the Parliamentary Campaign.  A full report will hopefully be published here shortly.

In other news, The Wick Wants Work stickers were proudly sported at the STUC Trades Councils Conference on Saturday, and photographs of delegates wearing the must have fashion accessory of the season, and supporting the campaign, would be available had only your humble correspondent remembered his camera!

If you would like stickers to distribute, please email Drummondpcs (address typed like this to avoid spambots getting hold of it) at aol dot com with your address, and how many you would like.  We would ask that you support the campaign by sending a few snaps of them being worn to the same address, and we'll post them up here.

Behind the Banner

The new banner unfurled!

Today twenty members of staff in HMRC's Wick Office were formally told by their employer that their office will close on 31 March 2012.

In hopes of quietly achieving this, HMRC put on the table a voluntary exit offer worth up to 21 months' salary.

The PCS Members behind the Wick Wants Work campaign have, however, made clear that they are not willing to take the money and run.  While there is will, there is hope, and the willpower of the Wick Wants Work campaigners  should never be underestimated. 

A press release to the local media generated significant interest, and an interview has been featured on Moray Firth Radio since the announcement to staff was made.

One local MSP, Jamie Stone, intends to ask a question in Holyrood, while another, David Stewart, has issued his own press release in support of the campaign.

On Friday, Campaigners will be meeting with local MP, John Thurso, to bring him up to speed on the annoucement, and ask for his further support as the Campaign builds.

Leaflets have gone out in town, and stickers are being sported by nearby Jobcentre employees already.

With your support, jobs in Wick CAN be saved - please stand by these brave workers as they fight to save their jobs.

Campaign Launches Tomorrow

According to Stewart Lee, the 41st best Standup Comedian in the history of the world ever, everyone needs a manifesto.

This, I guess, is ours.

Wick is a wee town (population 7,333) in Caithness, in the (very) far North of Scotland.  The local economy has just suffered a major blow with the announcement that 2,000 jobs are to go in the next few years from the Dounreay power station, the biggest local employer by far.

HMRC, the Government Department formed through the merger of the old Inland Revenue and HM Customs & Excise, currently employ twenty staff in Wick,  but they have announced their intention to close the office permanently, offering only a one-day-a-week face to face service, staffed by two people.

The Public & Commercial Services Union, which represents the twenty staff facing the axe in Wick, believe that the removal of the permanent HMRC presence in Caithness is in no way necessary, and, supported by the local Council, the local TUC, and the local Community, are campaigning for the retention of these jobs in the local economy.

We believe that, with a tax gap of £120,000,000,000 across the UK, and the vast majority of HMRC work entirely portable thanks to IT improvements, there is a perfectly sound rationale for the retention of the HMRC presence in Caithness, and, indeed, there could easily be an expansion of HMRC employment in the area to the benefit of the UK exchequer.

We oppose the closure of HMRC Wick.

We support the Closure of the Tax Gap.

We have not given up on Caithness, even if HMRC seem to have done so.

To this end, we support all campaigns for the retention and creation of jobs in Caithness, and oppose any cuts in public services until every last penny owed to the exchequer has been collected, and everybody is paying their fair share.

There you go, a manifesto.

Please support the Wick Wants Work! Facebook page here: http://tinyurl.com/6hxog4h

A petition will soon be posted online, and your signature to that would be invaluable.  This is about 20 people, and the wee community they live and work in - they need all the support they can get.