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Group Secretary's Report

 

Having only had responsibility for DfT Group since February this year, I cannot report with first hand knowledge on the Group’s activities prior to this.

In my short time with the Group what is apparent is that we can achieve more for members by all the sections working closely together, the divisions suit the employer and reduce our strength. The outcome of our legal action on single source is still unknown but logic says we should win this hands down, unfortunately, our legal system does not always depend on logic where trade unions are concerned, if it did we would not have had the anti union decision in the recent BA case. We may however be surprised, given the stunning legal victory over cuts to the CSCS, there however appears to be no Prospect of some trade unions acknowledging the PCS victory. We await the response of the Government but PCS members must not believe the fight to retain terms and conditions is over we may still have to show a united front with further industrial action if necessary

Last year was a clearly very difficult year for our members, multiple days of strike action, overtime bans, work to rules and real terms pay cuts in many areas. Given the outcome of the general election this is clearly going to continue and accelerate in the coming year; pay is to be capped way below inflation once again imposing real terms pay cuts – if you manage to keep a job given the massive assault planned on public sector jobs.

Unions affiliated to the Labour Party may now be more willing to stand up for their members now that the attitude of ‘don’t rock the boat’ no longer applies. We should be developing a public sector alliance, not just nationally but at grass roots levels of the unions. To ensure our ability to do this we need to ensure that our structures are fit for purpose and are so designed to encourage membership participation. Operating as a cohesive group across all sections is the best way to deliver for our members.

Let’s start this work today and move forward together to face the challenges that await us.

David Cliff
Group Secretary