Tachwedd 24ain 2006....November 24th 2006

Plaid Cymru AM Dr. Dai Lloyd today backed civil servant workers in South West Wales in their campaign against 5,000 job cuts being implemented across Wales by the Labour Government.

Dr. Lloyd addressed the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union’s South West Wales branch members at Swansea’s Guildhall at 12.30. Members included DVLA workers, and also workers from tax offices in Llanelli and Bridgend whose jobs could be under threat.

He gave Plaid’s full backing to their campaign, which could result in further industrial action in the New Year.

Following the meeting, Dr. Lloyd stated:

“I was pleased to be able to address the PCS members at the Guildhall as I wanted to stress that the union has Plaid Cymru’s full support in opposing these 5,000 job cuts. It will inevitably lead to more pressure and workloads on current staff and I am of the firm belief that this will lead to a reduction in the quality of service delivery.

“This meeting kick-starts the campaign in South West Wales and shows the Labour Government that workers in this part of the country are not going to lay down and give up. We must fight this all the way.

“These job cuts will be devastating to those civil servants involved and also to service users at local offices. Small businesses and tax credit claimants for example, who rely on face to face contact, will lose an invaluable community resource.

“New Labour and their cronies say this is about so called ‘efficiency’, but they have spent millions of pounds on consultant fees to come up with these devastating plans.

"During the 2004 Comprehensive Spending Review the Chancellor, in order to be more right wing than the Tories, announced that over 100,000 civil service jobs would be culled. Announcements such as this are ultimately then end result of New Labour policy. Plaid remains opposed to the use of public servants as political footballs and remains committed to providing first rate services for people at community level. The difference in approach can not be any clearer.”

Diwedd/Ends.