Public and Commercial Services Union

Bulletin 63 For all PCS members in HP 21 January 2010

Dear Colleagues,

A response to Mark Manser EDS/HP NE & NW DISPUTE

Whilst PCS does not normally attempt to conduct negotiations by e-mail exchange, Mark Manser’s message of 21 January (and accompanying FAQ) to DWP account employees was inaccurate in a number of respects, and deserves clarification.

With regard to the industrial action, management confirmed at our meeting on Tuesday 19 January that it was not legally possible further to delay the commencement of the action beyond Friday 22 January. Our consultations with members were conducted on that basis, to determine whether it was felt that there was enough in the offer effectively to call off action completely. There was no option for a further delay.

I provided management with the figures from the consultation meetings we held on Wednesday, both in a spirit of openness, and to show that that there was absolutely no support amongst members to close off the option of industrial action. We can all speculate as to the views of those who did not attend meetings, but speculation is not a sound basis for decision making. The fact is that 288 out of 304 voted that there wasn’t sufficient basis to call off the action. Only 11 members out of 304 (or if you prefer 914) members voted to call off the action.

PCS has acted throughout within the law, and has given the maximum time allowed for discussions before resorting to action.

There was nothing in writing on the table on 19 January, and we received an e-mail the following day which gave written confirmation of some of the points raised in discussions. There are a number of points of variance between the e-mail of 20 January, and Mark Manser’s message, key of which are:

• Mark stated that the HP pay proposal for Image members “will provide as much scope for progression as the old civil service methodology”. This is not the case, since there is no commitment at all beyond 2011 – merely an invitation to continue collective bargaining, and furthermore the rate for progression is dependent on performance markings. The offer was conditional upon giving up either 1.5 days’ holiday a year, or working an extra 30 minutes; accepting a further 10 voluntary redundancies; moving to HP’s pay banding system; and accepting HP’s performance appraisal process.
• He also stated that there was a commitment to no compulsory redundancy for everyone on the DWP account for H2 2010 – but the e-mail following the meeting with management on 19 January said this only applied to Image terms members, and didn’t apply to Standard members. There are also concerns about members in roles linked to, but not part of the account, and those “on the bench”.
• The FAQ suggests that questions around Standard terms members were not part of the original claim – however, we have always said that job security is an issue for all of our members. We originally sought reinstatement of the Standard annual pay review, but management raised the issue of collective bargaining, saying that they could not talk about members for whom there are no formal collective bargaining arrangement. There is no legal barrier to the company talking about Standard terms members, and we even suggested allowing Standard members to choose whether to “opt-in” to collective bargaining on government accounts, but the company didn’t accept this.
• We will continue to press the company for a negotiated agreement on recognition and apply for formal recognition where we have sufficient numbers of HP staff recruited to PCS. Recognition will provide our members with the best opportunities for making real improvements in their pay, terms and conditions.

PCS remains willing to talk to management to attempt to resolve this dispute, and for the avoidance of doubt our goals are:

• A genuine job security agreement for all members in the branches affected;
• A commitment to have meaningful negotiations on Image pay, including pay progression to an agreed rate for the job;
• Collective bargaining rights for PCS members on standard term contracts. With these bargaining rights, we further demand a guarantee of meaningful pay talks for standard members with a pay offer that can be put to members no later than February 2010. 

We will also continue to ensure that members are as fully consulted as possible about any decisions taken on these matters – which the company failed to do either in respect of the 2009 and 2010 pay freezes, or the job reduction numbers since August 2008.

Jim Hanson

National officer