Public and Commercial Services Union

Chief executive letter to staff

PCS members in DE will have seen the recent letter from the chief executive.

PCS was not consulted in advance of this letter and therefore we believe it is important that our members are aware that we neither endorse the ‘message’ from the chief executive or that there is joint engagement and a common understanding on the issues set out in the letter.

Economic crisis

Our union concurs with the chief executive that the current economic climate is gloomy. However we do not believe that this means that civil servants should lose their jobs because the government has bailed out the bankers or because DE is again forced to offer up savings to the Treasury.

We have repeatedly invited DE management to work with us jointly on the Administrative Costs Regime (ACR) to ensure that we can agree a process which gives job security to PCS members and enables the business to meet its savings wedge. Management have to date not taken us up that offer.

In addition to the ongoing change programme DE has recently informed us that it plans to seek further job cuts amongst staff working in audit, assurance, inspection and review.

The ACR process demands that DE shed a minimum of 15% of all jobs over the next three years. DE is also subject to a Treasury review called the Operational Efficiency Programme (OEP) which will inevitably demand more, including a potential 25% cut across the ‘back office’ functions of DE. Management have yet to talk to us about the OEP but members should be aware that no job is safe.

In fact, it is clear that civil servants are expected to pay with their jobs as the department and government seek to balance the books.

Our union believes that this is a disgrace and the job cuts have already gone far enough. Service delivery is imperilled, staff morale is at an all time low and there is a widespread belief that the plans being drawn up by management are incoherent, short term fixes that simply will not work.

Estate management review (EMR)

In his letter the chief executive does not explain that our union is not in agreement with the employer on the Review.

We are opposed for a number of reasons:

1. We are frankly amazed that management are undertaking the three completely different post mapping exercises (the exercise that will decide if staff have jobs in the new structure).
2. We are opposed to management plans to consult PCS at the same time as the post mapping process is carried out. Normally post mapping, including any appeals process, would be concluded before consultation commences so that we are consulted on the final position. We are clear that the current proposals are incoherent at best and potentially subjective and deeply unfair. It seems to us that the proposals are driven purely by the management timetable – and puts our members in a position where there is less certainty to the process than they should reasonably expect.
3. We are appalled to have been contacted by members who have been told by their line manager that that they are going to lose their job; should start looking for another job; or that they will be post mapped out – before the post mapping process have allegedly begun!! We know that this has caused huge upset and anger for our members.
4. It is clear to us that the EMR is purely a cuts driven exercise and that the proposals on the table will not improve the business and instead are leading to huge demoralisation and/or staff deserting in droves. This is exactly what staff told management would happen at the time.

PCS action

We will of course be doing everything that we can to reach an agreement with the employer on the ACR, on the OEP and on EMR.

We want an agreement that provides job security for every member. We want a commitment that our members will be treated with respect and decency by their employer.

We want an understanding that our member’s ideas and views will be listened to and that in reward for their commitment and dedication that PCS members in DE are not merely treated as numbers that can be cut at the whim of the employer.

Get in touch!

In the next issue of the PCS MoD magazine – Defender - there will be an insert that we are asking all members in DE to complete and return. This is so that we can form a balloting group within DE.

Once we have this data we can keep members informed of developments in DE.

We can also, where necessary, ballot you on plans that the employer might have and our response to that.

Please keep an eye out for this form (please note that your branch may also contact you for this information) and return the details as quickly as possible.

We will also issue further circulars to DE staff, as soon we can, on further developments in terms of proposed DE job cuts in the near future.

Improving our power in DE

PCS wants all union members to get involved in our union. There are many ways that you can get involved and it doesn’t have to take up a lot of your time:

By being an active member - maybe you don’t want to get too involved. You can still play a really important part in your union by just being an active member and recruiting others into our union, attending union meetings and have your say, and by telling us about problems in your office and ask what you can do to help.

As a workplace union rep - being a PCS rep in your workplace is not as complicated as you might think. The main jobs of a rep are to listen to members and make sure that their views are represented, to keep members informed and to tell new staff about the union and ask them to join.

As you gain experience and confidence you can get more involved in dealing with management and helping members with problems if you want to. You would get time off work and full support and training from PCS.

As a contact or a distributor - You don’t have to give up too much time. You can help, get involved and keep yourself up to date about what is going on by just being a contact point or a distributor and giving out some union circulars in your work area. You will get time off away from your desk to do this.

As a young member’s rep - PCS has a young member’s network. All branches are being asked to elect a young members rep. If you are 27 or under and have ideas about building a better union this could be for you.

As an equality rep - PCS campaigns on a wide range of equality issues.

As a health and safety rep - Union heath and safety reps do a really important job. Carrying out workplace inspections and risk assessments. You would have to be trained and get time off for training.

As a union learning rep (ULR) - Union learning reps get time off to help staff develop and take up learning opportunities. ULRs cover everything from basic skills to computer skills and CV writing.

The next period in Defence estates is likely to be very challenging for us all. We need to build our union strength to stand up for jobs, to prevent senseless and arbitrary cuts, to protect our members from bad management practises and to ensue that our views are heard properly. We can only do this together.

Please support our union!