Police to be balloted on whether they want to strike in wake of 20 per cent budget cuts

  • Along with Armed Forces the police are only public workers banned from taking industrial action

By
Emily Allen

13:58 EST, 22 March 2012

|

13:58 EST, 22 March 2012

Rank-and-file officers across England and Wales will be balloted on whether they want the right to strike, the Police Federation said today.

All 135,000 members will be asked for their views on the key issue in the wake of 20 per cent budget cuts and proposals for the most wide-ranging reform of police pay and conditions in more than 30 years.

Along with the Armed Forces, the police are the only public workers banned in law from taking industrial action.

Rank-and-file officers across England and Wales will be balloted on whether they want the right to strike

Rank-and-file officers across England and Wales will be balloted on whether they want the right to strike

The federation added that it would also hold an event in central London “to highlight the unprecedented attack on policing by this Government and the consequences that these cuts will have for public safety”.

The federation has called for Home Secretary Theresa May to reject Tom Winsor¿s proposed reforms to police pay and conditions

The federation has called for Home Secretary Theresa May to reject proposed reforms to police pay and conditions

It will take place ahead of the federation’s annual conference in May.

A federation spokeswoman said: “At the meeting of the Police Federation’s joint central committee today, the decision was taken to ballot the entire membership as to whether they wish the Police Federation of England and Wales to seek full industrial rights.

“The federation’s 135,000 members will
be provided with all relevant information and the ballot will be held
as soon as possible.

“In
tandem, the Police Federation will explore all the consequences,
including the legal position, with regards to police officers obtaining
full industrial rights.”

She
added that the federation’s national committee also called for Home
Secretary Theresa May to reject Tom Winsor’s proposed reforms to police
pay and conditions which were published last week.

Here’s what other readers have said. Why not add your thoughts,
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The Police need our support. Once they have been ‘restructured’ it will be hard to go back and frankly I don’t want to be policed by G4S. Interestingly we don’t seem to mind spending 88 million on aid to the police in the Congo or spending 100 million on Palestinian civil servants pension. Funny old World but I suppose you get what you vote for, or in our case what we didn’t vote for.
Strike guys, you are being dismantled and privatised as a reward for reducing crime to the lowest it has been in decades.

I think the British police are well paid for what they do. Eating doughnuts and drinking cups of tea all day. ” Too busy ” to attend when called upon. Telling lies in court, aggressive, rude and simply obnoctious police have destroyed the image of fairness and politeness. They don’t listen. Today they wouldn’t know common sense if it bit them on the nose.

Midlands Girl, uk, 22/3/2012 23:58- The difference is a big one, when the firemen went on strike they demanded a 20% pay increase …which quite frankly was disgusting…the police on the other hand are not complaining solely about money but the fact they’ll be expected to do the jobs of 2 people with the cuts. As an ex police officer I can tell you the jobs hard enough already with each and every day being busy, I had a friend who was a fireman and he said most nights they’d sit watching TV until/unless there was a call….I never had the chance to do that in the police.

I think NWA said it best on the Straight Outta Compton album, track 2.

Privatized Police
Privatized NHS
Privatized Employment
Privatized Water
Privatized British Rail
Privatized Public toilets
Sponsored by Tesco

bikerboy 1829,As it’s 28 plus years since the miners strike ,the police only work 30 year and the police at the 84′ miners dispute had to have done their 2 year probation, there’s no Police form 1984 still around
it wasn’t the miners on strike it was the yorkshire welsh ones,If the Nottinghamshire and derbyshire police had A ballot on not to strike and the Yorkshire and Welsh police went on strike and the Latter treid to block the roads so the former couldn’t get to work then yes it would have been alright to have the (yorkshire/welsh Miners) beat them up to stop preventing the Derbyshire police form getting threw picket lines, Of course if A derbyshire police officer voted not to go on strike Arthur Scargill could give the derbyshire police officer a lift to work in A taxi, hopefully No yorkshire Striking police officer wouldn’t stand on A bridge throw A brick off it, at Scargil and kill him.

Move along , there’s nothing to see, 22/3/2012 21:19
Will be standing in front of the B****** waving £50 notes in their faces…

The police should never be allowed to strike as they are an essential service, however they should also not be taken for mugs, work too rule no overtime to cover events like football or the Tory party conference or the olympics lets see what happens to theses events then. As for those who say that the public sector has had it too good for too long they actually don’t the majority of public sector workers live with people who work in the private sector with pensions that have suffered the only comfort they have is the knowledge that combined the pensions will be enough. I work in the private sector and will be relying on my partners pension to compensate the failure of mine that I have paid a fortune too but due to get precious little back.

The Government seem to want to treat the police like ordinary workers when it suits them including being made redundant in the new ideas put forward but as soon as these ordinary workers decide they want to strike suddenly they won’t be ordinary workers but crucial for national security etc.. The Government cannot have it both ways either they are a special case in which they get paid more than the average or they are not in which case they should be allowed to strike.
What is needed is a Royal Commission on Policing As for all those saying what about the armed forces a lot of police are ex services and you are just showing your ignorance by not knowing that
Parent, Co Durham you are a Muppet if you think being in the police isn’t a real job but of course don’t let your anti police sentiment stop you posting rubbish on here Were you a miner or just related to one?

I remember only too well the comments made by some police officers when the firemen went on strike. They had no sympathy with the firemen who were having their terms and conditions eroded and “modernised”. Now it is their turn to have the same thing happen to them. This should be a lesson to us all it starts when they get away with it with one group which they have with the disabled and sick, and at the moment it is the public sector who are public enemy number one and once they have destroyed them it will be back to the private sector. It’s called divide and conquer, so every one out there that thinks it’s OK for public sector workers to have their contracts ripped up just remember YOU ARE NEXT.

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