To All DWP PCS Reps
URGENT
ALERT! Our members at Equality and Human Rights Commission will be dismissed today with one day’s notice by e-mail!

Disgracefully the Equality & Human Rights Commission (!) issued compulsory redundancy notices to members of staff yesterday. 9 of them are PCS members. The most alarming part of this is that the dismissal is for Friday 10th Feb (today). There will be no notice period for these staff. They are to collect their personal belongings, leave and not come back. The letter informing these staff that they would get Payment in Lieu of Notice (PILON) was sent by email at just before 5 pm on Thursday 9th Feb.

Our members have been sacked by email.

Please join a lunch time protest outside each EHRC office in Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and London on Friday10th Feb at 12 noon.

We are also alerting MPs and members of the Welsh and Scottish Assemblies of the way in which our members have been sacked.

Join the protests at lunchtime – don’t let our members be sacked in silence!
It is unprecedented in the Civil Service and connected public bodies for staff to be sacked in this way. Working a notice period means surplus staff can carry on accessing Civil Service vacancies and looking for suitable alternative employment right up until the end of the notice period. Redeployment activity has been cut off for these members. If they apply for a job in the Civil Service after tomorrow they will be applying as if they are like any other member of the public. PILON should have been offered on a consensual basis only and not imposed in this way.

The CEO’s message says she have removed those issued with a notice from the workplace for their own benefit. This is utter nonsense. The Commission has removed our members from the work place in the most disgusting way to make it harder for us to collectively fight for them to have a job at the Commission (filling one of the many vacancies).
This is not a genuine redundancy situation. There are jobs. Our members have been targeted and we will pursue cases through the courts.
•        Please send messages of support to londonbargaining@pcs.org.uk
•        Tweet to @savetheehrc
•        Write to the EHRC chief executive officer Rebecca Hilsenrath at EHRC, Fleetbank House, 2 – 6 Salisbury Square, London EC4Y 8JX.
•        Send donations to our strike fund to: PCS PSG Hardship Fund, Sort code: 608301, account no: 20151243.
 
 
See below for this weeks strike reports:
Solidarity
As on all the previous strike days in this ongoing dispute,
http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/news_and_events/pcs_comment/pcs_comment.cfm/government-equality-staff-to-take-five-more-days-strike-action
support by union members has been solid, with picket lines outside all the offices.
In London, PCS assistant general secretary visited the picket line and made it clear that the fight will go on and that PCS will campaign to have our members reinstated.  Messages of support were read out from PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka and shadow chancellor John McDonnell MP.  Union members from other branches visited to show solidarity and there was a great photo shoot for the TUC’s Heartunions week http://heartunions.org/ during the beginning of a snow storm.
Parliamentary support
During today’s strike, Chris Stephens, MP for Glasgow South West, asked in the House of Commons for a debate on EHRC funding.
A motion has also been tabled for debate in the Scottish Parliament by MSP Neil Findlay, noting their concern over the job and budget cuts and calling on their own equality and human rights committee “to scrutinise and challenge the possible impact” of the EHRC’s proposals.
Please let your MP know!  
PCS the Campaigning Union: Get Involved
You can help to support PCS campaigns by by visiting our campaign pages for our current e-actions and email your MP directly. We are updating our calendar of events so for all activities visit our website for more information about our campaigns.
If you would like to be included in this weekly campaigns update or have events for the calendar email campaigns@pcs.org.uk

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