Court workers begin two-day strike

WALKOUT . . . workers outside Oldham Magistrates’ Court this morning

AROUND 70 Oldham court workers today started a two-day strike in protest at plans to slash redundancy payments by up to a third.

The industrial action will cripple Oldham Magistrates’ Court and Oldham County Court, which will run a much reduced service until Wednesday.

It will also affect the tax office and job centre, where staff are also on strike.

Philip Maughan, branch chairman for the courts section of the Public and Commercial Services union, said: “They are trying to get rid of us on the cheap.

“The Government wants to reduce redundancy payments so they are comparable with private industry, at a time when everyone is worried about the threat of cuts in the civil service.”

Staff manned picket lines at Oldham Magistrates’ Court, where up to 45 members of staff stayed away from work.

The union said it believed the court manager and the head of legal services were in and would run one court to deal with overnight arrests.

Only eight out of 30 members of staff went to work at Oldham County Court, along with judges, who dealt with listed hearings.

A spokeswoman for Her Majesty’s Court Service said: “We have robust contingency plans in place which will prioritise the delivery of our most essential services.

“Our aim is to keep disruption to a minimum.”