Campaigns

PCS is one of the more active, campaigning trade unions, and Bootle Taxes is proud to be one of the more active, campaigning branches in PCS.

The term campaigning covers a broad range of activity. From distributing literature to members or the public to coordinating pickets and industrial action, it takes a lot of time and effort. That’s where our branch’s hard-working reps and activists come in.

Image: Bootle Taxes members meeting during walkouts over attendance management, June 2011

The campaigns listed below are those we are currently involved in as a branch. You can read more about the union’s national campaigning on the main PCS website here.

The Battle for Bootle

All of HMRC’s offices in Bootle – The Triad, Litherland House and St John’s House – are formally set to close by the end of 2020 or early 2021. All of the staff in these buildings are set to move to Liverpool – either to India Buildings as part of the new ‘Regional Centre’ or to Imperial Court.

This will result in job losses for those staff unable to make the journey due to the length, the increased cost or other issues such as caring responsibilities. It will also devastate the local economy, putting many businesses particularly along Stanley Road who rely on HMRC staff custom to survive at risk of closure.

At the same time, HMRC is outsourcing its security to Mitie, costing all of our in-house security guards their jobs and putting the UK’s tax authority in the hands of an unaccountable cowboy outfit.

Our campaign demands:

• That St John’s House is retained by HMRC in order to accommodate those staff who are unable to move to India Buildings
• That HMRC retains an in-house security service in Bootle and insources all of the workers guarding its buildings here.

The reasons for this are:

• To defend the jobs of staff employed directly by HMRC
• To defend the jobs of outsourced workers providing facility services to HMRC
• To defend the local economy of the Bootle area

We will use all means at our disposal in order to achieve this aim.

Justice for HMRC Cleaners

HMRC’s outsourced cleaning staff have been fighting for better pay and conditions since 2016, when they reversed cuts to their working hours by taking strike action. Since then, the campaign has grown and there has been further action in pursuit of the real living wage and terms and conditions equal to civil servants.

Follow the campaign on the Justice for HMRC Cleaners website here.