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From The Socialist newspaper, 9 July 2008
Bonuses for chiefs, pay restraint for civil service workers
WHILE GORDON Brown's 'pay restraint' policy eats into real wages for civil service workers, his government has given big bonuses to top civil servants, including those in charge of family tax credits and benefits for the poor.
This is part of a package to encourage the most senior civil servants to meet government targets, including cutting tens of thousands of civil service jobs.
Brown's pay policy is to hold down rises for the average civil servant to 1.9%. The Department for Work and Pensions has imposed a 0% pay rise for 40% of its staff this year. Such attacks led to the one-day strikes organised by the PCS civil service union.
The average bonus for already well-paid senior civil servants was £7,000. This is chicken feed, of course, compared to bonuses at the top level of private industry such as the £753,000 a year bonus paid to energy company Centrica's boss Sam Laidlaw. But this deal, designed to cut civil service workers' jobs and wages, could be explosive. If they can afford to indulge the civil service tops, they can afford to pay a decent, living wage to ordinary civil servants.
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The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.
The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.
The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.
- The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
- When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.
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In The Socialist 9 July 2008:
Campaign for a New Workers Party
The working class needs its own party
CNWP conference: Wanted - a new mass workers' party
Socialist Party news and analysis
UK economy sliding into recession
Rich get richer: Why should we pay the price!
MP backs student fees campaign
Bonuses for chiefs, pay restraint for civil service workers
Government lies on public-sector pay
G8 leaders' 'world hunger' banquet
On the other side of the financial divide...
Socialist Party NHS campaign
Property deals threaten private nursing homes
Marxist analysis: history
Terry Fields: A socialist voice that rocked Whitehall
Socialist Party LGBT
Marching against homophobia & racism
Socialist Party workplace news
Argos warehouse workers vote to strike
National Shop Stewards Network Conference: Organising migrant workers
A day in the life of a call centre worker
Call centre charter: A framework for workers' rights
RMT conference discusses crisis of political representation
Shop Workers' Union Usdaw
Socialist stands for Usdaw general secretary
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