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'Crippling' strike fear
Page 6
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fIN ALL-OUT civil servants' strike was "on the cards" earlier this week which could cripple the activities of traffic area offices and ports throughout the country, writes MIKE RUTHERFORD.
According to a spokesman for the Council of Civil Service Unions, "the feeling among members is running very high." Three unions which come under :he CCSU umbrella had already -net by Monday and were in 'avour of an all-out two-week strike by June 22.
CCSU is waiting for the rest of the unions to consult their memberships and, said the spokesman, there was a 50 per cent chance of a strike call.
CCSU claims that about a third 3f its members work at or below the poverty line. While many -.:ould not afford to strike for two Neeks, there is unity among -nembers, it is claimed. And the main priority is to maintain that, he CCSU spokesman claimed.
An HM Customs and Excise spokesman was not prepared to -flake any predictions about possible problems at ports, airports ind the Irish border. All that he 'as prepared to say was that -nanagement will deal with )roblems as and when they )ccur, as they have been doing J p until now. It is not known
whether senior management would assume Customs control . in the event of a total walk-out by Customs men.
There is a "wait and see" attitude amongst traffic area offices which process applications for driving tests, operators' licences, etc. The northern area office in Newcastle upon Tyne said that depending on who supported it, the office could effectively close.
The Metropolitan office in Acton, North London, says that it won't know how its operations will be affected until a strike actually starts, and pointed out that many civil servants are nonunion members.
In Bristol, a CCSU spokesman
said that the traffic area office would be unable to deal with 0licence applications if a strike took place.
There would also be problems at hgv testing stations. A strike would leave 15,000 vehicles untested each week, resulting in a E225,000 loss in test fees.
Vehicles in these circumstances would receive exemptions for up to two years, would be off the road, or would operate illegally.
The situation at the Driver Vehicle Licensing Centre at Swansea could not get worse, CCSU says. The computers there are still shut down (CM May 23), with driving licence issues and amendments at a standstill. Post Office delivery vans have even been turned away from the centre, although some mail is still getting through picket lines.