September 30, 2008
After Unite general secretary Derek Simpson told HR professionals at the TUC annual congress in Brighton earlier this month that "conflict was coming", staff at conciliation service Acas have sent in the heavy artillery.
Yep 600 members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union working at Acas offices across the UK took part in a massive one-hour strike.
In Guru's day, that was known as a tea break...
Staff downed tools from 10:30am to 11:30am last Friday in protest at a 2% pay offer.
This year's pay increase was due on 1 August, and follows a 10-month delay on last year's rise.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "It is ironic that the people who help resolve industrial disputes have themselves been pushed into taking industrial action by unacceptable delays and a pay offer that represents a real-terms pay cut."
Guru thinks the irony may lie more with the imagery of war and the reality of strikes that are all over before you can say: "one sugar, or two?"
