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Services and structures

Motion A87 was carried

NEC Attitude: remit/oppose

There has been a recent rise in the number of EDS Commercial Sector (CS) Members and a dramatic rise in the EDS CS workload. Elected branch representatives are currently under pressure because of redundancies, pay freezes and requests for voluntary pay cuts. In addition representatives' facility time is under threat.

There is an immediate need for more CS resources to support the work by EDS representatives. The CS Team appear to need more personnel to cope with their increased workload.

ADC 2007 set up the Commercial Sector Review. The Review has not published a final report yet and does not seem to be addressing the apparent resource shortfall in the CS. The situation has got much worse in EDS since the Review was set up because of redundancies, pay freezes and pay cuts announced following the HP takeover of EDS. The CS needs extra resources now.

As a Union we have a duty to ensure that our members are properly served. We should also ensure that HQ & Regional Office workers' health is not compromised due to excessive, unmanageable workloads on behalf of PCS.

This is not intended as a complaint against the current CS Team members, only recognition of the momentous amount of tasks they have undertaken to date and an acknowledgement that their workloads have increased to such an extent that current resource levels are inadequate.

Conference instructs the NEC to consider providing the following extra CS resources:

  • Another EDS National Officer (to enable the current Officer to split his workload)
  • A staff member at each Regional Office to specifically undertake CS Personal Case work (to save on travel time and costs and provide a better service level).

Motion A91 was carried

NEC Attitude: support with statement

This ADC is concerned by the continued threat to jobs and pensions in the private sector. Whilst acknowledging that the national civil service pensions negotiations have an overwhelmingly positive impact, they do by default create a situation where there are only a handful of lay officials and Full Time Officers (FTOs) with the experience and knowledge to advise on pensions and pension related terms during TUPE transfers, secondary TUPE transfers and redundancies. PCS now represents members of private sector 'Image' schemes plus other private company schemes which are often Defined Contributions.

This shortfall in knowledge has led to situations where PCS has been distracted from campaigning for members in the workplace to fighting to defend the entitlements of those who've left their employment on redundancy or retirement. Whilst we applaud the hard work done by lay officials and FTOs and thank them for their successes, we note that the time spent by small bargaining units in establishing entitlements consumes a disproportionate amount of available resources at a critical period, and effectively means that the Commercial Sector services redundancies rather than organises members around a key issue.

We therefore instruct the NEC and relevant senior management to create a dedicated or specialist pension adviser -with a specific job description -for the Commercial Sector and other bargaining units representing private sector workers, in order to take the pressure off lay and full-time officers and ensure that PCS effectively represents all our members. This job description must be agreed after consultation with affected lay and FTOs, but should include the following responsibilities as a minimum:

  • Co-ordinate the access of FTOs and lay reps to all specialist legal and actuarial advice on pension-related issues
  • Provide specialist advice during redundancy consultations, including direct liaison with the employer
  • Manage or oversee all pension/redundancy personal cases
  • Lead initiatives on dealing with specific private sector-related problems on pensions, such as pension shortfalls when employees transfer from one company to another
  • Provide campaigning and bargaining materials
  • Create a knowledge base that will enable PCS to be more pro-active when dealing with private sector employers on pensions
  • Undertake a training needs analysis of private sector pension training needs for private sector lay reps, and their FTOs, and work with Organising & Learning Services to provide such training

Such a specialist will free our reps to continue to engage the employer on the basic issues, and to concentrate resources on those members who need support in the post-redundancy wasteland that follows job losses.

Motion A92 was remitted

NEC Attitude: remit/oppose

This Conference notes with concerns an increased numbers in members'
cases, which in some cases requires counselling services. Conference believes that members are reluctant to approach the counselling services provided by their management because it may not resolve their work-related problems or concerned that it may be reported to their management.

Conference recognises that representatives can also suffer stress when
dealing with members' cases in such circumstances. This can lead sick absences for them and delays in handling members' cases.

Presently, Conference, the counselling services are not provided to members
and representatives by PCS. Conference further believes such services will certainly be welcomed by members and representatives, which can be trusted and dealt with in confidence.

Conference calls upon the NEC to negotiate:

1. Provide counselling services to members on the basis of 24 hours and 365 days a year;
2. Also, provide similar services to representatives;
3. Also include face-to-face counselling services;
4. Provide counselling briefing session training and guidance to representatives, which can be helpful when dealing with members cases; and
5. Work in conjunction with TUC to provide counselling services, if necessary.

Motion A93 was carried

NEC Attitude: support with statement

This Conference notes the success of Haden’s and Group 4 in terms of building PCS membership and offering representation to our members in the commercial sector. However there is concern that Securitas members are currently not represented by a national tier. Conference therefore instructs the NEC to elect a national officer to represent the interests of these members and to develop trade union recognition with the employer.

In the interim Conference instructs the NEC to provide support and guidance to all representatives within the field.

Guillotined: A502, A94, A95, A96, A98, A99, A100, A101, A102, A103, A104, A105, A106, A107, A108, A109, A110, A111, A112 and A113