Public and Commercial Services Union

Getting involved

There are a range of different rep roles within PCS. Some posts are filled through members voting and electing a representative, others are filled through a nomination and appointment process.

There are many roles that you can perform and these can be tailored to suit the amount of time you have available.

You would be surprised what an immense difference that a small amount of activity can make. For instance, just providing a circular to your colleagues in your work area can raise the profile of issues and go some way towards successfully resolving issues.

How you can help

There are many simple things that you can do to help:

• distributing union circulars in your workplace
• encouraging non-members to join
• keeping the union noticeboard up-to-date 
• informing members about union policies and campaigns 
• helping to keep your local branch website up-to-date 
• getting involved with the young members' forum.
• encouraging non-members to join 
• looking after the union noticeboard 
• informing members about the union's campaigns 
• making sure members' voices are heard

Roles and duties

If you would like to get even more involved, then you could consider becoming a branch committee member. We have a job description here that you can access to get a real feel for the role. The branch committee includes the following roles:

Branch committee member 

• Contact point for members and union 
• Dealing with simple queries
• Member of the branch email group
• Contributing to union newsgroup
• Contributing to local consultation exercises
• Engaging with members about getting more active and talking with possible non-members about joining
• Keeping up to date knowledge of services on PCS intranet site
• Attend necessary training courses to attain the skills to perform in the role.
• Accompany members to open door/grievance/disciplinary hearings if required
• Preparation for and attendance at monthly branch committee meetings
• Contribute articles and ideas for the magazine/intranet site

Additional branch committee roles

• One member of the committee will have responsibility for updating the intranet site
• One member of the Committee will have responsibility for managing the newsgroup
• At least one member of the Committee will be responsible for equality issues
• One member of the Committee will have responsibility for training/learning reps
• Furthermore, several members of the Committee will be health and safety reps organised in a health and safety sub-committee within the branch. This sub-committee will face the employer and handle members’ issues. They do not claim facilities time but are PCS reps.

Branch secretary

• Must be a member of the branch committee and make a major contribution in branch activity 
• Accompany members to open door/grievance/disciplinary hearings if required
• Preparation for and attendance at monthly branch committee meetings
• Contribute articles & ideas for the magazine/intranet site
• Acquire working knowledge of Commix
• Dealing with branch correspondence
• Working with branch organiser to manage workloads

Branch president

• Must be a member of the branch committee and make a major contribution in branch activity
• Member of the branch email group
• Contributing to union newsgroup
• Contributing to consultation exercises
• Keeping up to date knowledge of services on PCS intranet site
• Supporting union activities on site
• Accompany members to Open Door/Grievance/disciplinary hearings if required
• Preparation for and attendance at monthly branch committee meetings
• Contribute articles & ideas for the magazine/intranet site
• Preparing for and chairing branch committee meetings
• Preparing for and chairing Annual General Meetings, Pay meetings and other extraordinary meetings called by the branch
• Overseeing the financial records of the branch

Branch vice president 

• Must be a member of the branch committee and make a major contribution in branch activity
• Accompany members to open door/grievance/disciplinary hearings if required
• Preparation for and attendance at monthly branch committee meetings
• Contribute articles & ideas for the magazine/intranet site
• Deputising for branch president if appropriate

Branch treasurer

• Must be a member of the branch committee
• Accompany members to open door/grievance/disciplinary hearings if required
• Preparation for and attendance at monthly branch committee meetings
• Contribute articles & ideas for the magazine/intranet site
• Maintain accurate accounts for the branch
• Administer the branch bank account
• Preparing and submitting annual accounts
• Reporting monthly account details to the branch committee
• Issue Payments for incurred expense as required
• Overseeing the financial records of the branch

Branch organiser

• Must be a member of the branch committee and make a major contribution in branch activity
• Work with other branch members to ensure that there is a distributor within every workplace in the branch
• Co-ordinate Head office training for identified potential reps that want to get more involved
• Ensure that all branch officials and members are receiving union circulars
• Co-ordinate the production of circulars
• Do periodic mapping of the area to determine membership density, so that a robust figure of our potential membership can be produced
• Ensure the mapping of membership density among under-represented groups and , where appropriate strategies are in place to improve membership and involvement from under-represented groups
• Ensure that communications systems are in place that ensure that members views are represented

Office secretary  

• Contact point for members and union 
• Dealing with simple queries
• Member of the branch email group 
• Contributing to union newsgroup
• Recruitment
• Keeping up to date knowledge of services on PCS intranet site
• Supporting union activities on site
• Attend necessary training courses to attain the skills to perform in the role
• Keeping circulation lists up to date and passing information to members

Branch delegate

• Preparation, travelling and attendance at:
  • Mandate meetings
  • PCS commercial sector forum
  • Annual delegate conference
  • Special emergency conferences called by PCS
• Contribute to workshops and debates
• Report back to branch committee and members