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In this issue: Horizon September 2011 cover

You can read the issue in either PDF format via this link   Horizon September 2011 , or below in plain text.

 

 

 

DVLA – free speech preserved


Potentially the most serious attack on trade unionism and democracy in the history of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) has been averted. In an unprecedented attempt to curtail communication with PCS members DVLA management initially attempted to:-

  • Ban a petition against the closure of Swansea coastguard station
  • Ban the national ‘fair pensions for all’ petition
  • Ban campaigning on DVLA premises to defend the DVLA local office network from possible closure
     
  • Ban all campaigning against government policy on DVLA premises
     
  • Ban any emails, circulars or leaflets deemed to be detrimental to DVLA (management would decide what is detrimental)
     
  • Ban any emails, circulars or leaflets unless the content had been approved by management in advance.

in effect, what DVLA management was saying was that staff organised in a recognised trade union cannot campaign at work against measures introduced by their own employer that affect their own jobs, terms and conditions. The government is our employer so it is inevitable that PCS must have the right to campaign against government policy to defend the interests of members.

If you take their position to its logical conclusion, why should they stop at the written word? Why not impose a ban on conversations at work that criticise government policy?

The DVLA staff handbook specifically allows the union to use DVLA resources to communicate with members and there is no mention of management vetting the content. When DVLA reps quoted the staff handbook they were simply told that the staff handbook would be re-written.

This is a time of pay cuts and attacks on pensions, jobs and services. These are basic trade union issues and PCS must insist on the right to campaign to defend members. We made clear to DVLA and to DfT managers that PCS simply could not live with this restriction on our legitimate activity and we would fight it with every means at our disposal including legal action if necessary.

The ban on circulating the Swansea coastguards petition was widely reported in the local media and caused uproar in the Swansea area, where the petition has been widely circulated in workplaces, shops and cafes etc. No other government department has blocked the petition. The official response that the petition opposed government policy was clearly nonsense as the government had announced a 12-week consultation period over their proposals, seeking the views of all parties. The petition simply expressed the view that Swansea coastguards should not close and this was part and parcel of the consultation.

This situation could not be allowed to continue and happily an agreement has been reached. We are pleased to report that following negotiations, all restrictions have been lifted and no union communications will be subject to censorship. However, the union will continue past practice of alerting DVLA to the issuing of union material as a matter of courtesy.

DVLA reps would like to thank all those who gave us their support and assistance to get a just outcome.

President’s piece


Firstly I would like to say a big thank you to all members who took part in the strike on the 30 June and continued with the overtime ban throughout July. The action on the 30 June was the biggest and most successful in the history of PCS and that reflected across DfT and its agencies. Nationally the PCS recruited about 7,000 members in the run up to the action and recruitment levels rose significantly in our group as well. One thing is for certain however and that is that our dispute still needs to be won: and we need to keep re-emphasising to all that there is an alternative to these cuts and moreover that investment and maintaining the public sector is crucial in getting Britain out of recession.

We still need to bring the government to its senses and to force it to negotiate rather than dictate. To that end we have two major issues that we need to address. The first is to get our message across that further strike action is likely to be necessary if we are to win fairness on pensions, pay rises that allow us to keep up with the cost of living, and which prevent huge job losses, privatisation and the decimation of public services. We must make the next day of action bigger and better than 30 June. To that end we are analysing and addressing the issues with the weaker areas that we have in the group. We must also continue to encourage members to ask non-members to join in our struggle.

At a national and local level we must do all we can to build links with other trade unions in order to make the next action stronger. There remains good success at national level with all the unions involved on the 30 pledging already to take further strike action together again. It now looks very likely that other unions will be joining with us in any further strike action, given the government’s intransigence over the pensions issue. In that sense the next action we all take will already be bigger in terms of the numbers involved than 30 June.

Secondly, and just as importantly, we need to recognise that while national action brings political pressures it will not on its own stop the cuts and the attacks on our jobs, terms and conditions. That is why the national union is encouraging all groups to now make ready ‘action plans’ throughout their department and agencies in order to defend themselves as well. Our group’s work is already underway in developing that and we want to ensure that you as members are involved in contributing ideas on the type of action. I will therefore be encouraging all section and Branch representatives to detail to you where you can contribute any ideas. Given the nature and speed of the attacks that members in DfT are facing, our action plan is a very urgent piece of work.

As this government lurches from one crisis to another we will find that it becomes more vicious and more provocative towards the public sector. A crisis that was caused in the private sector has transformed into a ‘blame the public sector’ crusade. We must all say that we cannot and will not allow that to happen: private and public sector workers all benefit from public services, we all need pensions in our older life, and we all need to continue to play our part in defeating this government’s attacks.

New coastguard proposals


There is a new set of proposals for modernising the coastguards – but the new proposals still involve the closure of eight coastguard stations and the loss of 147 jobs. The stations earmarked for closure now are Clyde, Forth, Portland, Liverpool, Yarmouth, Brixham, Thames and Swansea. These proposals are nearly as ill-thought-out as the first set. Already local campaigns are springing up to defend individual stations and PCS nationally will be supporting these and responding to the consultation. PCS is not just concerned about the implications for those whose jobs will be axed and the effects on the individuals and their families, but also about the impact on local economies which rely on the economic activity of people employed locally. There is also the major issue of public safety to be considered. Support the coastguard campaign by signing the petitions to keep them open.

VOSA’s horizons changing


How refreshing to hear the members of parliament bleating and squealing about how unjust it was to reform their pensions and make them contribute more – welcome to the world of pain civil servants live in.

To those throughout the department and the civil service as a whole who supported the action on 30 June a resounding ‘Thank you’ and to those who did not, perhaps your consciences will guide you into making a donation to the group’s hardship fund.

In VOSA there are yet further announcements of test station closures or cessation of testing. This time the stations are Ipswich and Stoke. VOSA has made these decisions using the already discredited market validation exercise.

The information gathered is unsafe and factually incorrect but it is leading VOSA down a very precarious path. In the month these decisions have been announced we find that one of the earlier private finance initiatives was to sell off the fire engines of Lincolnshire and London to a private company that would then be responsible for their maintenance and replacement. The engines would be leased back saving millions eventually. That private company has gone into receivership owing around £140 million. However people in Lincolnshire have not heard anything about it, most worryingly what will happen to the fire engines and the service provided to us by the fire brigade if these engines are seized as assets of the private company?

Now to VOSA’s testing transformation project (TTP) which appears to be basically selling off whatever estate it can and moving its staff into private approved testing facilities (ATF’s). Again this means selling the family silver at a time when prices are low. There are a few problems: firstly some of those providing these places to test have hit money problems and are in receivership, what plans are in place if others go and VOSA has no testing estate?

Then the sell off of property, which in some cases isn’t so much a sell off but transferring debt from one agency (VOSA) to another (DSA). It takes it off VOSA’s books but no money has been gained. What then of the others, the estate we are tied into leases for, yearly rents which councils and others are not willing to release us from and so VOSA must continue to pay until the leases have run their course, where are the savings there?

Irish counterparts visit


PCS reps hosted a fact-finding visit to Garrets Green MPTC on 7 July. The IMPACT union representing driving examiners in the Republic of Ireland had contacted PCS requesting the visit.

DfT reps were happy to facilitate the meeting with the co-operation of DSA – thanks to Nick Carter (director of operations) for his assistance. Ireland’s examiners have gone through some turbulent times in the past few years. The testing service got into some difficulties five years ago with waiting times extending up to 30 months at one point.

An action plan was put in place which involved the outsourcing of testing to the private sector. The fear is that the standards of driver testing fell during that period. Now that waiting times are back to normal levels, the public testing service is under threat of further outsourcing as the Irish government tries to cut spending following the banking crash.

Ireland’s multi-skilled examiners (they conduct bike, car and LGV tests) currently test motorcyclists on a car-to-bike basis with the examiner following the candidate even during the braking exercise. They were very impressed with the MPTC facilities at Garrets Green and took away lots of information which will help them with the implementation of bike to bike testing which their government wants to introduce.

Interesting facts
 

  • Ireland’s examiners earn 48,000 euro a year
     
  • They are paid a car allowance of 1,500 euro a year in addition to mileage, but cannot refuse detachments
     
  • They are multi-skilled

PCS have invited the Republic’s examiners to join the European trade union group of driving examiners. PCS and IMPACT agreed to work together over the coming months to take this forward.

Building on our success


Our national campaign in defence of jobs, pensions and pay remains the priority as this is the biggest crisis ever faced by our members.

Following the success of the 30 June action, in which about 750,000 civil servants, teachers and lecturers across the UK took part, there is a golden opportunity to recruit non-members. The strike has increased membership totals as many people have been angered after discovering the scale of the losses they face through the government’s proposals.

It is vital members continue to campaign for the PCS alternative which makes the compelling case to grow the economy, create jobs not cut them, invest in UK infrastructure and recoup the £120 billion of tax evaded, avoided and uncollected each year by large corporations and the super-rich. By employing more Revenue staff we could help close the deficit.

Members can be proud that our union has been in the forefront of campaigning against the government’s attacks on public sector pensions and its misguided economic policy. We are encouraging members to participate in their local trades councils and build links with other local union branches, community groups and anti-cuts campaigns.

As well as continuing to build membership within branches, it is also important local links are built with other trade unions. This was especially important on 30 June when a large number of excellent marches and rallies took place across the UK.

Pensions negotiations


PCS remains committed to engaging in negotiations on public sector pensions. The government confirmed at the end of July its intentions to make tens of thousands of public sector workers pay more and work longer for a smaller pension. All of this despite the evidence clearly demonstrating that changes are not required.

The cabinet argues that there is protection for low paid workers. But this only applies to those earning less than £15,000. Those who earn between £15,000 and £21,000 will pay 1.5% more and those above £21,000 will pay anything between 3% and 6%. All of this at a time of a pay freeze, rising prices and no certainty about future pensions. Nearly all members will have to pay more, work longer, and get a pension not as good as their current scheme.

The talks to date have been about public sector pensions in general. Now the government wants to move to talks about individual schemes. We are considering our approach to these talks and are discussing this with the other civil service unions. We need to be sure that there are real negotiations not just the implementation of predetermined plans.

Unless the government engages in serious and honest negotiations, more public sector workers will be striking in the autumn. This will be critical to ensure the so-called consultation is taken seriously by government. On 30 June members took strike action alongside members of three education unions. Already other unions have indicated that they intend to ballot for strike action on pensions in the autumn, meaning that any action is likely to involve even more public sector workers than the 30 June strike.

We know that our pensions are affordable and sustainable. The government says this is about paying to tackle the deficit, but there is an alternative way that would prevent the need for the government to impose what is effectively an extra tax on working in the public sector.

Instead of targeting public servants, pensioners, students, disabled people and those entitled to welfare payments, the government should invest in jobs and public services to help our economy to grow.

For the latest see the campaigns pages. 
 

Update your records


It is essential in an increasingly hostile environment that members keep their records up to date to make sure vital messages from the union over action to defend jobs, pensions and pay are sent out widely.

Many employers restrict the use of work email addresses for union campaigns. There may be situations in the future where we can only send emails to personal addresses, so ensure that you register them, and set one up if you don’t already have one.

To make this possible we need your help to update iMembership records for members and reps. Recent improvements to Commix/iMembership have made this a lot easier. Reps and members can now update their records in a few clicks. For more information look at the ‘how to’ guide iMembership.

Go to iMembership in the member log-in area of the PCS website pcs.org.uk/imembership and register your email and mobile phone details.

 

Horizon magazine

The PDF version of this edition is available to download here

  Horizon September 2011