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1.00pm, Monday 17 June, outside the Civil Justice Centre, Bridge Street, Manchester city centre, next to People's History Museum ...
PCS members in the Crown Prosecution Service, Ministry of Justice, G4S and Mitie, including the PCS Samba Band, ....
will protest alongside Lawyers Against Legal Aid Cuts, Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit and the South Manchester Advice Centre.
Lawyers to join striking courts staff for protest against cuts
Lawyers campaigning against legal aid cuts will join hundreds of striking courts staff in Manchester for a protest on Monday (17) as thousands more walk out across the UK, the Public and Commercial Services union says.
Following the recent legal aid protest outside the Ministry of Justice headquarters in London, the Manchester demo will highlight the damage being done to our justice system by government cuts.
It comes as more than 16,500 of the union's members in magistrates', crown and county courts, tribunals, the Crown Prosecution Service and other justice agencies hold half-day walkouts on Monday as part of a three-month civil service-wide campaign against government imposed cuts to pay, pensions, jobs and working conditions.
Cleaners and security staff in courts employed by private companies G4S and Mitie will also strike on Monday in a row over pay. Staff are campaigning to be paid the living wage - £7.45 an hour, £8.55 an hour in London - at the two companies that hold MoJ contracts worth an estimated £500 million. The action coincides with international justice day for cleaners, which has been celebrated throughout the world for more than two decades.
The Manchester protest will be at 1pm outside the Civil Justice Centre, Bridge Street, Manchester, M60 9DJ. A joint statement signed by the union, barristers and access to justice campaigners in the city points out that, as well as staff facing pay, pensions and job cuts, legal aid is being cut and advice organisations are closing or cutting their services.
It adds: "These aren't just cuts. Not only are they financial reductions in the living standards of the workers but they are also unfair restrictions to the access to justice that makes a civilised society. The government is heading towards a society where only those who can pay can receive services - whether legal advice, health, education or anything else."
The union's 13,000 members in the Ministry of Defence and hundreds of staff in the Forestry Commission will also be on strike on Monday as part of the same three-month campaign in the civil service, which has involved weeks of industrial action among the union's 250,000 public sector members since a national walkout on budget day on 20 March.
Since the last defence spending review in the autumn of 2010 more than 24,000 civilian staff have been cut from the MoD, leaving those remaining hugely overstretched and putting at risk the vital support they provide to the armed forces.
The MoD strike will include civilian staff who work alongside military colleagues at sites including the navy bases at Faslane and Portsmouth, RAF Cosford and Abbey Wood in Bristol - one of the largest civil service sites in the UK.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "These workers provide essential services and support across our justice system and in defence, and they deserve better than being treated with contempt by a Tory-led government that is refusing to even talk to us about the cuts it is imposing.
"The joint protest in Manchester is a great example of different groups coming together in solidarity to fight for a shared cause and we would like to see more of this happening across the country." |
Asylum and Immigration Tribunal Offices, Piccadilly Plaza, Moseley Street, Manchester
Memorial Day Postertheir safety just wasn't that important a priority. Workers’ Memorial Day (WMD) commemorates those workers.
they refuse to sign new contracts that slash terms and conditions.
