Staff cuts loom for union head offices

Two large unions — the Unite general union and the PCS civil servants’ union — are to make redundancies to cut costs.

Unite told the BBC that expenditure reductions, which could amount to 20% in some departments, “are being sought in almost all areas”.

As part of these reductions, a number of employees have applied for voluntary redundancy.”

The union is facing the prospect of a significant drop in membership — and therefore subscriptions income — as a result of the recession, which has hit some of Unite’s core areas of membership, including manufacturing and transport. The union added that “priority is being given to protecting services to members.”

PCS’s planned cuts are limited to the ranks of senior officials, which are to be halved from 22 to 11. PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka told the union’s annual conference the aim was to ensure the union was not too “top-heavy”.

Most of the staff affected are expected to retire or leave voluntarily.