'WE ARE NOT GOING QUIETLY' (From Warrington Guardian)

'WE ARE NOT GOING QUIETLY'

CIVIL servants across Warrington went out on strike on Friday to protest against proposed job cuts.

The strike has been hailed as one of the biggest of recent years and caused major disruption to some of Warrington's busiest offices.

A total of 220 civil servants, based at Mersey Bank House, Barbauld Street, failed to turn up for work on Friday, November 5.

Their protest was mirrored by staff at the town's JobCentre, which could only offer a limited service on Friday.

Meanwhile, Inland Revenue staff based at New Town House caused that office to all but close for the day, while the strike at the Department for Work and Pensions based at Hilden House meant the service could only offer a telephone service.

Chris Barnes, branch secretary for Cheshire Department for Work and Pensions, is based at Hilden House.

He said: "The message of our campaign is that the Government can't arbitrarily cut staff without it having a negative impact on important local public services such as providing a lifeline for some of the most impoverished and vulnerable people of our society as well as the local economy.

"The people the Government is seeking to axe aren't bowler-hatted Sir Humphreys, based in Whitehall or faceless bureaucrats, they provide vital services that touch everybody's lives from cradle to grave."

The one-day strike had not deterred Chancellor Gordon Brown's plans to cut 100,000 civil service jobs.

In September it was announced that 37 social security offices and Job Centres across the UK would be the first hit in the job cuts. Warrington is to be included in the first wave.