More job losses on the cards (From Warrington Guardian)

More job losses on the cards

UP to 100 jobs could be lost in Widnes and Runcorn, says the striking civil servants union.

The PCS held its one-day strike on Friday.

The Government is shedding more than 100,000 civil service jobs nationwide - and the union says Halton is expected to lose 100 of these by April 2008.

Dave Jones, a senior official of the PCS in Runcorn, said: "The Government can't arbitrarily cut staff without it having a negative impact on local public services such as support for schools or childcare - as well as losing jobs from the local economy.

"Runcorn suffered more than 1,000 job cuts in the mid 1990s through the previous Government's market testing programme.

"This resulted in the closure of East Lane House. We expected better from this Government. Our members are sick at being used once again as a political football."

The union held pickets at the tax office on Moor Lane and at the job centre in Widnes Road.

The PCS says it has more than 310,000 members and that this is the biggest strike in a generation. It says it has 500 members in the Runcorn area.

The Government says the job losses are "essential efficiency measures to increase investment in vital frontline services."

Announcing the news in the budget, Gordon Brown said: "I can tell you it is a painful process. We regret the fact that people have to lose their jobs."