Following the decision at TUC today to co-ordinate strikes over the public sector pay curbs, the BBC website tells us that, ‘there was “no alarm” in government at the prospect of co-ordinated strikes, because there was no guarantee union members would back any action, or that the trade unions would be able to work together effectively’.

It is up to us to prove them wrong. However PCS must not wait for a one day public sector general strike which may or may not come. Where possible we must link up with other unions but we cannot rely on their leaderships or foster the belief that we are unable to win any victories without them.

For a start PCS must begin its own fight for national pay bargaining. We must coordinate across departments, public bodies and sectors within our own union with hard-hitting action to win back what we have lost in recent years and improve pay levels from the bottom up.