Constables
Pay
Marching on Westminster – January 23rd 2008
28,000 people from all over England and Wales in London, protesting in an organised and effective way for an entire working day is no mean feat; but our Police Federation march acquitted itself admirably and was a credit to our forces and to our argument.
The media coverage was extremely positive and the political classes from both opposition parties are now well and truly behind us. Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, the Conservative leader, David Cameron, and Shadow Home Secretary, David Davis all sent messages of support or addressed the march in person. Both Keith Vaz, a senior Labour backbencher and Chairman of the Home Affairs Committee and Brian Paddick, the former Met Officer and current Lib Dem London Mayoral candidate marched with us on the day, bringing yet more gravitas to our message. The government is now fighting from a bunker on the issue of pay backdating and yet seems unwilling to listen and learn as Gordon Brown promised he would do upon entering No 10.
As you know it is now important for the Federation to decide whether or not to ballot on strike action but is would be a last resort. A lot rests on the progress of the judicial review that was filled at the High Court by John Francis, the General Secretary of the Police Federation, on the 23rd.
The PNB – where we are now
The PNB met for a very long meeting on the 6th of February 08 and it was the unanimous view of the Staff Side afterwards that we feel badly let down by events over the last few months. The time has now come to see evidence of a different attitude from the Official Side. We have now had two years where the Home Office has constantly prevented the PNB from being able to operate effectively and has brought it into disrepute.
There has been a clear breach of trust and the ball is now firmly in the court of the Official Side to demonstrate by actions, not words, that the negotiating process recognizes the restrictions placed on Police Officers and treats them fairly.
Judicial Review is still pending and we are pursuing our claim for a level playing field.
We want to hear from the Official side how they intend to rebuild trust and stop undermining the work that Police Officers are continually asked to do more of by the Government.