Public and Commercial Services Union

“Ours is the first conference to meet since the new Tory-Lib Dem coalition took office. It gives us an opportunity to, not only assess the likely challenges we face, but to decide how we will respond.”

Janice told delegates that the scale of the public spending deficit – which currently stands at £163bn – is almost entirely accounted for by the cost of bailing out the banks. “We were told it was necessary to borrow these huge sums to rescue the banks. That is why it is right to demand that the banks pay us back.”

Janice dismissed politicians’ claims that the cuts will be ‘painless’: “There are to be cuts of £6bn this year. But even cuts on this scale will barely dent the overall deficit. It will require a massive and unprecedented assault on public spending to achieve that.

“It’s been estimated that spending cuts will put between 500,000-750,000 public sector workers on the dole. It won’t stop at cuts to jobs and services either. Cameron has pledged to sell off a string of state-owned assets including Jobcentre Plus, large parts of the BBC, and the Royal Mail.

Janice warned that the poorest would see their pay and pensions under attack. “According to Cameron, Clegg and Osborne, while the pay, jobs and pensions of public servants have be sacrificed in the national interest, the privileged lifestyles of the rich must be left untouched in the same national interest.”

Janice praised the union’s fantastic record of standing up for members’ pay, pensions and to prevent compulsory redundancies, and made special mention of our Land Registry members’ fantastic campaign against job cuts; our members working at the National Gallery for their magnificent struggle to secure the London Living Wage; and, for the first time ever, in our commercial sector, the successful industrial action taken by Hewlett Packard members.

“Common misery promotes commons struggle,” warned Janice. “We need to build on the fantastic work we have done to forge unity with our sister unions. This will  put us in the best possible position to weather the coming storm.”

Annual report presentation

Presenting our annual report, deputy general secretary Hugh Lanning thanked members and activists for their loyal support and for the work carried out in local workplaces that it is so essential to the union.

“It is important to highlight what is possible when we stand together in unity and with resolve. The ruling that the government acted illegally over making unagreed changes to the civil service compensation scheme is a fantastic vindication of our determination to fight these attacks.

“We didn’t roll over or cynically gave up; we showed that if you ignore us or take away our rights and treat us in such a shameful way we will fight – and we have been proved right to have done so.”

The coalition government’s desire to cut the spending deficit and the continuing economic crisis will however, shape the issues and events that will confront us and would endanger the very future of key public services, argued Hugh.

“We are meeting at a time when we now know we will be operating in a more hostile environment. This new government is not going to be a friend to the trade union movement.

Looking back at 2009, Hugh reminded members of “a very busy year, with much we can be proud of.”

Hugh said he was pleased to report we have nearly 400 morel activists registered this year. “Our membership has increased to 303,000 as well this year, despite the voluntary redundancies in many areas.”

Hugh also reminded delegates that we initiated a debate through the TUC on proportional representation at the TUC Congress last year which means “we were ahead of the game.”

“We have also been pro-active in anti-fascist campaigning. We sponsored a Love Music Hate Racism carnival in Barnsley which was a great success attended by over 8,000 people and at which we were able to get out our positive message of Love Public Services Hate Fascism.”

Hugh praised our parliamentary group which has continued to work on behalf of our members. In addition, almost half of Labour backbenchers expressed their opposition to cuts to civil service redundancy pay by signing a motion in the last parliament condemning the changes.

“In 2010 we will continue to argue that there is an alternative to slash and burn in the welfare state and public sector – tax justice and a reverse of the job cuts in HMRC.

“We pride ourselves on being a union that campaigns, but also negotiates, and is not afraid to also take legal action where necessary. We will need to continue our strategy of fighting on many fronts in the coming year.”

Hugh concluded by saying: “Unity within the union and across union boundaries has never been so important as it is now. I hope we will be able to take that message back from conference to branches and members.”

Protecting public services

Moving motion A1, which was taken as a general debate with A642, assistant general secretary Chris Baugh spoke passionately about the need to launch a major new campaign to protect public services. Chris reminded delegates that all three main political parties had threatened “savage, swinging cuts”.

“These cuts are demanded by the market, not the public. They exceed even those seen during the Thatcher years. We face a huge battle to defend the social advances we have enjoyed in the post-war years.

“We know that without a united campaign a chasm will open up between what we expect and what we find. That is why we are calling for action to defend civil and public service jobs, pay and pensions.”

Seconding, John Nichols for the Scottish Government, called for a celebration of “our union, our members. Our many successes demonstrate the power of collective action.”

There was opposition to A1 from Martin Witherington, Identity and Passport Service Eastern, who argued that the union already had policy on these issues. Nevertheless, conference agreed overwhelmingly to support the motion. 

Moving A642, Fran Heathcote, Department for Work and Pensions Northumbria, said that the general election proved the electorate had rejected privatisation. Political parties are “cherry picking services that can be plundered” said Fran. “We must say ‘no’ to cuts and privatisation and send a clear message that we are not prepared to stand by and see our services decimated. The trade union movement is the first line of defence for working people. It is vital we fight together or we will lose separately.”

Seconding, Jane Aitchison, DWP Leeds, praised members who had worked “fantastically well to stop the recession from turning into a slump. “Reducing unemployment quicker and stopping it rising faster.”

Calling for the thousands of staff employed on fixed term appointments to be made permanent, Jane said: “We need to spend to save. This involves investing in our public services, not cutting them.” The motion was carried.

Moving motion A609 on HM Revenue and Customs’ decision to run an offshore pilot outside the established unionised Aspire account, Telford Aspire branch, criticised the department “for effectively burying the announcement” by putting it out on Budget day. 

“There is no evidence of any public scrutiny of predicted costs that would support offshoring as the cheapest option,” the branch argued.

Speaking in support, vice president John McInally, argued: “Employers are becoming more and more confident in discussing offshoring as a way to reduce costs. We will continue to campaign on this issue.”

Motion A611, on ensuring that the union and workers continue to play a central role in future consultation on learning and skills, was moved for the NEC by Marion Lloyd. Marion said departments were continuing to pay lip service to good quality training. “The working class fought long and hard to gain access to good education. We must ensure this was not in vain. The motion was carried unanimously.

Condemning the stress and poorer working conditions staff cuts and privatisation cause, Gerry McMahon, DWP Glasgow north moved A3.

Gerry attacked new Labour’s record on public services saying: “They made no attempt to bridge the colossal gap between rich and poor. They alienated millions by waging war in Iraq and Afghanistan and capped it all with their scandalous treatment of public sector workers. Let’s stand up for the public sector by supporting this motion.”

The motion was seconded by HMRC northwest England with discussion of the disproportionate impact of cuts on rural communities.

Tony Reay, DWP south east London, added his branch’s support with a reference to research showing a positive link between good quality public services delivered by the state and people’s well being.

Conference agreed to highlight the poorer working conditions many members experience as a result of the government’s cuts programme and to campaign to prevent office closures and further job losses.

Moving motion A4, which calls for action against the introduction of ID cards, vice president John McInally said the proposals were a “dangerous assault on civil liberties.”

The cost of the scheme, John warned, was also of concern; £3 to £6 billion over three years. “The proposals will lead to an increase in state control, surveillance and office closures and job cuts.”

John Bigger, IPS London and southeast, seconded saying, “opposition to ID cards is the right policy. They are a threat to our freedoms and to our jobs.” The motion was carried.

Speaking about members’ anger over a decision to sack members barely six months after transferring to the facilities management provider Interserve, Defra RPA Reading said “the scale and pace of the changes was the most shocking aspect. Members are angered at management’s “shameful attitude”. Conference agreed that the NEC should review the effectiveness of post-transfer job security guidance.

Felix Blackburn, DfES London, moved motion A6 on government waste with the story of a colleague who could have saved £300 on train tickets by buying them himself rather than ordering them through a private sector contractor. “This contractor receives £6.60 for every ticket booked as well,” said Felix.

Julie Bremner seconded saying “shared services have been shown to fail. There are massive inefficiencies in the system.” The motion was carried and the NEC was asked to ensure negotiations include an obligation for management to look at making savings on private contracts.

Our redundancy pay and pensions

Moving motion A647 on keeping up the pressure to protect the civil service compensation scheme and our pensions, Hugh Lanning for the NEC said: “Our recent successful legal victory shows the government needs the agreement of the unions when they are planning to take away people’s rights. It is a last minute equaliser but the government is playing for extra time.

“We are calling for a fair scheme for all civil servants that covers all PCS members, all civil servants and is not age discriminatory. It must protect the value of people’s accrued rights.

“We need to keep the pressure on but this victory shows that our approach of taking legal, industrial and political action remains the right one.”

The motion was seconded by Land Registry Birkenhead’s Dave Lunn who praised reps and members. “We salute the role our reps, members and NEC have played in organising solid, high impact industrial action. However, as fantastic as this victory is, we must not rest on our laurels. It is important that we step up our campaign, both with members and politically.”

Michael Kavanagh, Land Registry Stevenage, described our legal success as one of our “finest victories.” The motion was carried.

Resisting attacks on our pensions was the subject of motion A8, with Ministry of Defence, Scotland west condemning the media’s vision of public servants as “overpaid, overcompensated and overprovided for.”

Martin Kelsey, Home Office northwest branch queried the use of the phrase “gold plated pensions” saying the definition, “is something that looks valuable but, when you scratch beneath the surface is not worth much. We want something that is solid gold.” The motion was carried.

Conference also agreed to back an “aspirational motion”, A660, which called on the union to seek to recover the wages members’ had lost through taking industrial action in defence of the civil service compensation scheme.

Angela Appleby moved A9 on behalf of Land Registry Durham. The motion called for action to address the disgraceful inequalities experienced by disabled staff who apply for redundancy.

“I have been involved in some heartbreaking representations,” said Angela. “Disabled staff are so disadvantaged that they can be plunged into poverty if they lose their jobs. Their redundancy packages can be three times lower than non-disabled workers.” Conference agreed to campaign on the issue and take it up as a matter of urgency” with the Cabinet Office.

John McDonnell MP – guest speaker

Addressing conference the day after he announced his intention to stand as a candidate for leader of the Labour Party, John McDonnell MP, chair of the PCS parliamentary group, told delegates that our legal victory in protecting the civil service compensation scheme showed “our voices must be heard.”

John condemned the government’s decision to slash public services saying it should be the bankers that paid for the crisis they had created.

“We need to tackle the corporate sector and the wealthiest. We must control the market rather than being its servant. New Labour has laundered our money into private profit.”

Speaking of his candidacy, John said: “I support decent social housing, trade union rights, civil liberties, free education and the right for people to live free from poverty. I welcome people coming to our country and asylum rights for those who desperately need it. The problems are our shortage of housing, jobs and services due to mismanaged economies.

John received a standing ovation from delegates.