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Informed - September 2008

This issue of Informed gives a report of the decisions taken at the NEC meeting held on 3–5 September 2008.

Vote 'yes' for fair pay

The NEC voted unanimously to ballot for national industrial action to protect members pay.

The ballot will run from September 24th to October 17th and will include members working across the civil and public services.

Inflation is now running at more than 5%. The government is capping pay increase at 2%.

PCS members are suffering very serious cuts in real pay.

During the summer talks were held with the government to remove the 2% cap. We also want a level playing field with other parts of the public sector in terms of funding progression costs.

In the absence of a positive response, despite two meetings at which we pressed these demands with senior officials and ministers, the NEC has decided we must increase the pressure.

Our strategy is two-fold. We will continue to negotiate to try and and a settlement as we have done successfully on pensions and jobs. But, if members agree, we will take action.

There will be one or possibly two days of national strike action and several weeks of campaigning by members working in different sectors such as defence, finance, health and welfare, law and justice.

Action short of a strike will include an overtime ban. High profile media and parliamentary campaigning will also take place.

We will take action with other trade unions facing the government’s pay cap wherever possible. 

PCS at the TUC

The key motion on public sector pay at the TUC last week was moved by Unison and seconded by PCS. The debate resulted in unanimous agreement to co-ordinate campaigning and industrial action.

There will be days of action over pay and a national demonstration. This represents a show of unprecedented public sector unity to defeat the government’s utterly discredited public sector pay freeze.

The union’s high profile at the TUC continued as we revealed that the scale of UK tax avoidance, running at £25 billion annually, revenue that would easily fund decent pay increases in the public services and resource other policies to protect working families struggling to pay for gas and electricity.

End Child Poverty

PCS has been instrumental in organising opposition to the government’s welfare reform green paper that threatens benefit cuts and privatisation of services delivered by Jobcentre Plus.

Unions and the TUC are playing a leading role in the ‘End Child Poverty – Keep the Promise’ campaign to hold the government to its pledge to halve child poverty by 2010.

The campaign has called a national demonstration on child poverty in London on Saturday 4 October. Branches are encouraged to take part in this and future activities.

Make Your Vote Count

The NEC has agreed a further programme of campaigning activity around elections in 2009.

Next year PCS will make a direct intervention in the local council and European elections, building on this year’s successful Make Your Vote Count Campaign when the union asked for, and published, the candidates’ views on issues that matter to PCS members.

Compensation scheme

The NEC heard that the government has told us that it intends to
make changes to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme (CSCS).

This scheme governs the terms on which civil servants may retire
early or accept voluntary severance. Such a change would also affect
compensation payable on termination of employment.

PCS has made clear to the government that any detrimental changes are unacceptable. The severance terms available under the scheme exist in order to compensate for frozen pension entitlement that very
quickly loses its value.

It is particularly wrong to introduce changes that would reduce options and choices at a time when employers are making people surplus. We will use the full force of the union to defend CSCS.

Membership density rising

The membership report to the NEC showed a membership total
steady at 298,991 (July figure). Membership density has actually increased as government employment levels have fallen signicantly.

The NEC has endorsed plans for a renewed focus on recruitment and will supply new support material for branches.

Sound finances

During a period of intensive activity PCS has kept a balanced budget. Sound financial management has enabled the NEC to concentrate resources on our campaigning priorities.