Public and Commercial Services Union

Industrial action

Members have been advised of the overwhelming vote in favour of industrial action, and the our national executive's (NEC) decision to call a two-day strike on 8 and 9 March, followed by an overtime ban and further strike action if necessary.

Message from David Normington

The Home Office permanent secretary David Normington yesterday issued a statement to all staff on the employer’s Horizon intranet site which is a tacit attempt to dissuade PCS members from participating in the industrial action.

Members will not be surprised to hear that the employer is running a huge propaganda exercise to try to undermine the action. They always resorts to such tactics when they are worried members will make a stand and defend themselves from an attack. They would much rather you thanked them for tearing up your contractual right and went on your way.

PCS response

We cannot allow management to mislead members without comment, and it is incumbent on us to publicly respond to the permanent secretary and address the points he raises:

Democracy is coming

David Normington says: “Many of you will be aware that the PCS union has been balloting its members on industrial action over the changes to the civil service compensation scheme. The ballot has now closed and the union has announced that there will now be a period of industrial action.”

We say: This is correct. PCS is a democratic union that believes our members are entitled to a say on their futures. We have given members this say and they have voted overwhelmingly in favour of rejecting the proposals and taking industrial action. This is in stark contrast to an employer that has unilaterally imposed changes and disregarded the views of PCS members.

Regrets? We’ve got a few...

David Normington says: “I greatly regret this and I would like to encourage everyone to look again at the terms of the agreement which the Government has reached with the other five unions involved.”

We say: If it is true that the permanent secretary regrets this, he needs to speak to his masters in government and urge them to reach the negotiated settlement that PCS stand ready to achieve. We have already made proposals that would enable the government to make changes to the scheme, while protecting existing members.

Like the permanent secretary, we would also urge members to look again at the terms of the agreement reached, which include:

• Detriment to those under 50 - Approximately 50% of PCS members are between 30 and 50. Anyone earning over £20,000 would suffer a detriment. This detriment becomes greater the more you earn. Nearly 40% of full-time civil servants, earn between £20,000-£30,000 p.a. Those earning over £30,000 would lose their existing entitlement to 3 years compensation, which would be replaced with a 2 year cap, a loss of tens of thousands of pounds in many instances. Those earning between £20,000 and £30,000 would have any compensation capped at £60,000 if they had enough service.
• Detriment to those over 50 with five year’s service - Nearly 30% of PCS membership is aged between 50 and 59. Members with 5 year’s service, who are over 50, under the present scheme have an entitlement to an enhanced pension and lump sum with up to 6 2/3 years added. Under the employer's proposal the entitlement to enhanced pension will be abolished for staff who become 50 in the future. For those aged at least 50 (and with 5 years’ service) at 31 March 2010 there would be an option to use their lump sum to access an unreduced pension on redundancy. Those currently between 50 and 60 will have some restricted protection but only in a compulsory redundancy situation.
• Detriment for pre-1987 staff - For the very specific group who have substantial reserved rights to CSCS benefits dating back to 1 April 1987, their current entitlements would be reduced by 60% over the period 2011-2014.
• Detriment to Nuvos members - members joining the PCSPS since 2007 are in the Nuvos pension scheme and are not currently in the CSCS. In the event of redundancy they would currently receive statutory terms. Under the latest plan they would get a month’s pay for each year of service, doubled after five years, capped at two years pay or up to the cash cap if they remained among the lower paid.Those currently in NUVOS would be in the new scheme as will new entrants. It must be remembered that those with shorter service are cheaper to make redundant. If the cuts go through everyone would be more vulnerable to redundancy.

In short, the new provisions contain detriment for all – they are nothing to do with fairness and everything to do with cutting jobs on the cheap.

Balancing act

David Normington says: “It is also very important to note that all of the other unions involved in the CSCS negotiations – the FDA, Prospect, Prison Officers’ Association, the GMB and Unite - have agreed the new terms as being fair and balanced. Between them, these five unions represent a complete cross section of our staff, across all grades”.

We say: As the Cabinet Office has stated, Prospect, FDA, POA, Unite and GMB have accepted the government’s offer. NIPSA and PCS have not. The Council of Civil Service Unions (CCSU), as a body, has not agreed the proposals. A consensus is required for that to happen.

It is no surprise that the other unions have accepted the proposals. The other unions represent about 20% of civil service union membership. Prospect represents about 25,000 people in specialist roles.

The FDA represents about 12,000 higher paid senior managers and other senior civil servants. Unite and the GMB represent small numbers of industrial staff in the MoD. The POA represents prison officers. Some members of these other unions would not suffer the same degree of detriment as PCS members.

In addition, one of our sister Unions NIPSA has not reached agreement, so it is disingenuous of the permanent secretary to claim in his opening that agreement has been reached with the other unions involved. NIPSA are also supporting our judicial review.

The important point to note is that PCS is more than three times larger than the other unions combined with 270,000 members in the civil and public services. We represent the vast majority of members affected by the proposals and we will not allow those members to be sold short.

Far from being 'fair and balanced', cuts are yet again an attack on loyal public servants facing cuts of up to a third in redundancy pay as the government seeks to tear up their contractual rights in front of their eyes.

Consider this

David Normington: "I hope, if you are a PCS member, you will consider the position very carefully before supporting industrial action on this issue.”

We say: Our members have considered their position very carefully thank you very much – and they voted overwhelmingly to reject the proposals and in favour of industrial action. We are unsure which bit of this the permanent secretary doesn’t understand, but is worrying that an official of his standing cannot seem to grasp it.

Don’t let me be misunderstood

David Normington says: “Such action will be neither understood nor supported by people employed elsewhere in the economy whose redundancy terms remain much less generous than those in the Civil Service.”

We say: There are a number of points to make here:

The reality is that the cuts to the compensation scheme are being made so that the government can be seen to be tough on its workforce. This pressure has arisen as a direct result of their refusal to tackle the bankers who caused the economic crisis in the first place. Instead they choose to attack ordinary workers, while the bankers continue to rake in huge bonuses. This sends a signal to private sector bosses that it is fine to implement similar cuts. This is not crisis of our making and we should not be expected to pay for it
 

Our trade union movement is built on the principle of solidarity between workers. We will not be divided by false comparisons between the private and the public sector. We support the right of all workers to defend their livelihoods when they are under attack.
 

Our action may not be understood by David Normington and his fellow bosses, who appear to believe that they should be able to act with impunity without meeting opposition. However, our actions will be understood by our fellow workers in the wider world who face the same attacks as we do.

The damage done

David Normington says: “Industrial action will damage our reputation as Civil Servants”. This is abject nonsense. Being a Civil Servant does not mean that the government owns you. You have a right to take industrial action in the event that your livelihood is under attack. Furthermore, the reaction to the PCS campaign from the media so far has been overwhelmingly positive, and we have 151 Members of Parliament, the democratically elected representatives of the people, signed up in support of our cause.

Money talks

We say: “And it will be action against a package which is fundamentally fair and reasonable.” According to the senior salaries review body report 2009, David Normington earns an annual basic salary of £185,000 to £189,000 before bonuses. In light of this, we cannot see how he is any position to judge that cuts to compensation payments for relatively low paid workers can be “fair and reasonable”. It is a moral disgrace.

Don’t be hoodwinked by management propaganda
Support the PCS campaign for a fair settlement
Say 'no' to job cuts on the cheap.