340 walk out in Shropshire over tax office closure
Hundreds of Telford tax office staff staged a walkout amid fears HM Revenue and Customs could close its two sites in the town - ending its presence in Shropshire.
Some 340 Public and Commercial Service (PCS) union members based at Abbey House, in Priorslee and Parkside Court, near Telford Town Centre went on strike yesterday - 79 per cent of the workforce.
Staff fear their offices will not survive a cuts programme which could lead to HMRC having just 14 locations in the UK.
Mike Veric, vice chairman of the PCS West Midlands regional committee, said workers were struggling to deal with members of the public since HMRC closed Telford's enquiry centre in May.
He said office closures and redundancies across the Government department had led to fewer resources but no fall in workload, meaning staff were struggling to keep up.
He said at least 12 members of the public a day still turned up to Abbey House and were being met with signs advising them to call a number or go online instead.
"This was no good to the young deaf couple who turned up last week," he said.
Michelle Potts, HMRC spokeswoman, said the organisation was undergoing a transformation but wanted to "ensure that we continue to deliver the best possible service".
Mr Veric said: "The walk out is because workers are worried because they are having to work much harder and longer hours.
"We are in the last week of tax credit renewals, for example, and because HMRC has made people redundant in that area, there is not enough staff to do the work so managers from offices are being asked to go and help out.
"These managers are on £50,000 a year. It does not make much sense for these people to replace a few workers who were on £15,000.
"The hours they are working are ridiculous, they have made people redundant and closed offices all without the workload going down. There is not enough staff."
Asked what it would take for the union to call off strikes, he said: "We want the employer to sit down with us so we can ask how we supposed to deal with the workloads and how will we deal with the public?"
He said eventually there would only be offices in big urban areas and most people, including elderly and disabled people, would be unable to sort out their problems face to face.
Mrs Potts said: "HMRC is transforming to ensure that we continue to deliver the best possible service to our customers. In common with all customer service organisations we have to match staffing to the growth in online and digital services. We remain committed to avoiding redundancies wherever possible."
The spokeswoman said HMRC was "very disappointed" by the timing of the decision by PCS to call a strike as it coincided with the tax credits renewal deadline which was yesterday (Thursday, July 31).
Nearly 350 workers walked out of two Telford tax offices amid union fears HMRC will have no permanent presence in Shropshire.
Public and Commercial Service (PCS) union members based at Abbey House, in Priorslee and Parkside Court, near Telford Town Centre went on strike for one day yesterday.
The number of workers taking strike action across the two sites was 340 - 79 per cent of the 430 total work force - in a dispute over national and local office closures and workload. Staff fear their offices will not survive the cuts programme which could lead to HM Revenue and Customs having just 14 key locations in the UK.
Mike Veric, vice chairman of the PCS West Midlands regional committee, said workers were struggling to deal with members of the public since Telford's enquiry centre was closed by HMRC in May. He said office closures and redundancies across the Government department had led to fewer resources but no fall in workload, meaning staff were struggling to keep up.
He said at least 12 members of the public a day still turned up to Abbey House, despite the public enquiry centre being closed in May and were being met with signs advising them to call a number or go online instead. "This was no good to the young deaf couple who turned up last week," he said.
Michelle Potts, HMRC spokeswoman, said the organisation was undergoing a transformation but wanted to "ensure that we continue to deliver the best possible service".
Mr Veric said: "The walk out is because workers are worried because they are having to work much harder and longer hours. We are in the last week of tax credit renewals, for example, and because HMRC has made people redundant in that area, there is not enough staff to do the work so managers from offices are being asked to go and help out.
"These managers are on £50,000 a year. It does not make much sense for these people to replace a few workers who were on £15,000.
"The hours they are working are ridiculous, they have made people redundant and closed offices all without the workload going down. There is not enough staff."
Asked what it would take for the union to call off strikes, he said: "We want the employer to sit down with us so we can ask how we supposed to deal with the workloads and how will we deal with the public?"
He said eventually there would only be offices in big urban areas and most people, including elderly and disabled people, would be unable to sort out their problems face to face.
Mrs Potts said: "HMRC is transforming to ensure that we continue to deliver the best possible service to our customers. In common with all customer service organisations we have to match staffing to the growth in online and digital services. We remain committed to avoiding redundancies wherever possible."
The spokeswoman said HMRC was "very disappointed" by the timing of the decision by PCS to call a strike as it coincided with the tax credits renewal deadline which was yesterday (Thursday, July 31).
