The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union is hoping to build on the ‘fresh start’ being offered by the government to win assurances on planned job cuts at the Inland Revenue (IR).
The IR is merging with Her Majesty’s Customs & Excise, which will lead to a number of job cuts, including 500 HR staff, according to PCS estimates.
Following the government’s move to reopen talks with trade unions over controversial changes to public sector pensions, described by work and pensions minister Alan Johnson as a “fresh start”, the PCS is hoping that the IR will offer new assurances on the terms of the job cuts.
Ian Lawrence, group secretary of the IR section of the PCS union, said: “It has been agreed that a fresh start will be made [on pensions] and we are trying to build on that, to reach agreement with management.
“We want assurances on compulsory redundancies and that any relocation is handled sensitively.”
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In a meeting last week, the PCS confirmed its opposition to the IR’s plan for shared-service HR centres across the UK.
With centres in Newcastle, the North West, Nottingham and Scotland, the merged department would not be able to properly support its employees, Lawrence claimed.
