Public and Commercial Services Union

HO/MB/48/09 gave details of the agreement reached on the dispute in Border Force, following the successful vote by PCS members in favour of industrial action in the statutory ballot.

Members will recall HO/MB/40/09 in which PCS called upon the leadership of the Immigration Service Union to ballot its members to enable them to take action alongside us.

Members will also recall HO/MB/43/09 in which we expressed our dismay at the failure of the ISU leadership to do just that, preferring to opt for an “indicative” ballot which had no statutory weight and would not have enabled ISU members to take action.

Negotiations on the border dispute

The agreement secured by PCS was reached after imaginative proposals put forward by our negotiators.

This included our proposal for a moratorium on compulsory change whilst negotiations took place on workforce planning issues with a view to reaching a long term agreement.

This has led to us securing an interim settlement containing no compulsion commitments in respect of integration, including in the areas of job content, training, teamworking and shift rosters.

In their “News Line” of 29 July 2009, the ISU stated that “we have asked for an assurance regarding job content and are trying to achieve an agreement with the official side that there will be no compulsion for our members to undertake the more extreme elements of the Customs Officer’s role.”, and “….we are seeking agreement that there will be no such compulsion until an agreed date in the future, pending discussions around grading and the exact nature of the “border officer” job going forward,…”

We do not mind other people adopting our ideas, particularly when they are used to secure important gains for workers.

However if the ISU leadership had held a statutory ballot, in conjunction with PCS then the position of all workers in UKBF would have been enhanced. This was a wasted opportunity to make the best possible gains for the membership of both unions.

Customs workers, the ISU and the principle of solidarity

In its “News Line” dated 30 July 2009 the ISU stated that PCS were about to undertake industrial action, and that “PCS members in customs will not be supporting the action.”

This is a misrepresentation of the position.

From the outset, PCS Customs negotiators, activists and members have given support to our campaign for no compulsion. When management threatened to use the Customs workers to cover the jobs of striking PCS members in the Home Office, PCS Customs negotiators made an immediate submission to the union’s national disputes committee in order to ballot Customs workers on industrial action in support of our campaign.

This is an outstanding show of solidarity and is the hallmark of good, principled trade unionism.

Join PCS – a real trade union!

The willingness of PCS to take a stand has obliged management to listen to members ‘concerns and enter into an agreement which gives a real opportunity to move forward.

We have proved that nothing is inevitable and that by standing together we can make a difference. Members of the ISU can strengthen their position and our position immeasurably by joining PCS.

The transfer of around 4500 Customs workers into the Border Force significantly swells our numbers and strengthens our bargaining hand. 95% of these Customs workers are members of PCS. We are now the numerically dominant Union in the Border Force, as well as the Border Agency, the Home Office and the entire Civil Service.

This is an organizational strength that the ISU cannot match. The logic for the continuing existence of the ISU is rapidly diminishing.

There are huge challenges facing members in the months to come. For example, the department has made it clear that they wish to introduce annualized hours.

In order to meet these challenges we need all workers in the UKBF to unite. Only then will we be able to maximize our negotiating strength and make the best possible gains for members.

We are therefore calling on the ISU leadership to begin talks which will seek to unite all staff across the Home Office.

PCS calls upon all workers in the border force to become part of a fighting, organising, campaigning trade union that understands the principle of mobilising members to secure real gains. join PCS!