Back to index of Nerve 8 - Spring 2006

A Public Servant’s View of the Capital of Culture

By Paul O’Connor

The Capital of Culture celebrations could bring permanent local jobs for local people to the region and help alleviate some of the region’s economic and social problems.

Unfortunately, the policies of New Labour are not helping. The Chancellor, Gordon Brown, is currently culling 104,000 jobs across the Civil Service. That represents one in five jobs and given the vast numbers of civil servants who work on Merseyside, that is a huge blow to the local economy. Coupled with the problem of low pay in the Civil Service (with one quarter of our members in the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) earning less than £14,000 per year), the implications for regeneration are not good.

These factors are not just a blow in economic terms. Our members provide services to the public from the cradle to the grave. We administer tax credits and welfare benefits that assist some of the most vulnerable people in society. Any reduction of the services we provide could have a devastating effect on the local community, cutting off vital services and pushing the vulnerable further towards the margins of society.

We believe that the government needs to invest in the Civil Service to enable it to provide focused local services to local communities, and to create secure, permanent, properly paid jobs in those communities.

PCS members will be in the front line during 2008, particularly those working in the city’s museums and art galleries, who will be providing a warm, well-informed, welcome for visitors. We see this as an opportunity for job creation in the region and will be pressing the government hard on this issue.

Liverpool City Council has to support our call for job creation. We are establishing town and city committees throughout the country to highlight the effects on local communities of the job cuts we face and to campaign for their reversal. In the coming months, we will be lobbying Liverpool City Council on this issue. We share the concerns of many in Liverpool that 2008 will provide an opportunity for developers to make a quick profit and get out, leaving no long term sustainable investment in place. PCS will be doing all it can to ensure that the legacy of 2008 will be permanent jobs with decent wages for the local community.

Capital of Culture year is an opportunity not just to create investment, but also to celebrate Liverpool’s diversity. Liverpool is a city built on immigration and we believe that 2008 presents us with an unprecedented opportunity to unite our communities and to celebrate our different cultures. In order to achieve this, we must tackle the problem of racism.

The tragic racist murder of Anthony Walker demonstrated just how big a job we face. We were heavily involved in organising, stewarding and speaking at anti-racist events across Merseyside in the aftermath of Anthony’s murder.

If Liverpool is serious about celebrating being a Capital of Culture, then there must be room for all cultures to exist in harmony without the ugliness of racism. We believe that there can be no better tribute to Anthony’s life than making his legacy the defeat of racism in our communities. PCS will be at the forefront of any campaigns to achieve this.

As part of our anti-racist agenda we are committed to welcoming refugees and immigrants to Liverpool. Our members working in asylum and immigration services witness the problems that immigrants and refugees face. All too often they are portrayed in the media as scroungers coming to this country for an easy ride and a generous welfare system. Nothing could be further from the truth. Many are fleeing persecution, and when they arrive here, they struggle under a punitive asylum and immigration regime. PCS intend to uphold the Liverpool tradition of welcoming strangers and giving true credence to the lyrics in ‘Ferry Cross the Mersey’ - “We don’t care what your name is boy, we’ll never turn you away”.

Our belief is that the Capital of Culture presents real opportunities for the people of Liverpool. We can regenerate our city economically and build a society where all can live in harmony, free from harassment and discrimination. PCS will be doing all it can to deliver these aspirations, and we look forward to working with all in the city who share these aims.

Paul O’Connor is Chair of the Public and Commercial Services Union, North West Regional Committee