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MYVC - Use your vote, don't lose it

22 February 2010

With the delivery of public services high on the political agenda, there has never been a more important time for PCS members to play their part in the general and local elections

Our successful Make Your Vote Count (MYVC) campaign is gearing up for the fourth year to challenge election candidates on the issues that concern us – job cuts, the civil service compensation scheme, pay, pensions and privatisation.

Trust in politicians is at an all time low, particularly after the MPs’ expenses scandal.

Nevertheless, it is more important than ever for us to get involved in MYVC if we want to defend the jobs we do every day.

We are encouraging every PCS member to register to vote, get their colleagues, friends and family to do the same, and use these votes when the general election date is announced.

Only by voting, and hopefully engaging candidates through our MYVC campaign, can members really understand how potential MPs will support our campaigns if they are elected.

How do I register to vote?

Most local councils have taken on extra staff to update the electoral register. In order to make sure you are represented:

  • Respond to the letter your local council sends to every household
  • Contact your local council direct or
  • Visit www.aboutmyvote.co.uk for more information about how you can register to vote.

To vote in the general election you should register by 20 April. Remember, you are not registered automatically just because you pay council tax.

In the UK, there are three different ways to vote. How you vote is up to you but it may depend on what you find the easiest or the most convenient method.

Most people vote in person at a polling station. However, if you are not able to go to the polling station in person on election day, you can apply to vote by post or by proxy – someone voting on your behalf.

If you register for a postal vote you will receive this before the election. It means you cannot vote at the polling station, however you can drop your postal vote off there.

Voting by proxy can be useful if you fall ill and are unable to get to the polling station on election day, or if you are abroad during an election. It can be particularly useful if you are overseas in a country too far away to send back a postal vote in time for the election.

If you have not already registered to vote you should apply for the relevant type of vote, as listed above, as soon as possible.

Campaign on your doorstep

Most candidates in the general election have already been selected by their party and are holding events in local constituencies to try to gain your support. These include coffee mornings, leafleting and even knocking on doors canvassing for votes.

In the panel on the right are the PCS pledges we will be asking all the candidates standing in the general election to support. We will then follow these up with the successful candidates after the election and, depending on how they respond to our pledges and questions, hold them to account.

Cut out and keep our pledges by your door, and if a candidate comes knocking, ask them where they stand on our key issues. There is also space for you to add any local issues.

More pledge cards will be available this month from your PCS regional office or at myvc@pcs.org.uk

What you can do

  • Register to vote and encourage your colleagues, friends and families to register too
  • Look at our MYVC campaign website and send an email out to your candidate asking them where they stand on our key issues
  • Attend candidates’ question time events when these are arranged
  • Display the window poster which will be included in the April edition of View
  • Get more involved in the campaign locally.
  • Contact your regional or national office for more information.

Please support PCS’s pledges

As a prospective parliamentary candidate, I support the Public and Commercial Services Union and:

  1. I pledge to work to ensure that public services are properly resourced and delivered by the public sector and that there are no further local office closures, public sector job cuts or privatisations.
  2. I pledge to support measures aimed at closing the UK tax gap, including recruiting HMRC staff and ensuring tax loopholes are closed.
  3. I pledge to support civil service national pay bargaining and to press the government to offer pay increases to public sector workers at least in line with inflation.
  4. I pledge to urge the government to honour the 2005 commitment on public sector pensions and to defend the rights of existing members of the civil service compensation scheme.
  5. I pledge to campaign to ensure any changes to public services are only made after proper equality impact assessments have been conducted and their findings implemented.