Public and Commercial Services Union

We undertook our first Make Your Vote Count campaign in Northern Ireland this year.

This was important camopaig for us because unlike the Northern Ireland Assembly elections the local politicians elected to the 18 Westminster seats, will have a direct say over the departments and agencies that employ PCS members across Northern Ireland.

What the campaign involved?

• Getting people involved in local campaigning activity about the elections
• Identifying local issues to use in the campaign
• Challenging candidates standing in the elections about our key issues
• Publicising candidates' responses to our questions
• Ensuring PCS issues become election issues
• Helping organise and promote candidate question time events
• Making links with community groups and other unions
• Getting new people involved
• Helping to stop racist organisations.

PCS public service pledges

We ask most candidates standing in the general election, excluding racist parties, to support our five pledges. They were:

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.

Party leaders responses

We wrote to the leaders of the main parties standing in Northern Ireland and three have responded. Members can view their responses on these pages.

Candidates' question time events

The politics of Northern Ireland is unique, even compared to other devolved administrations.

Therefore PCS in Northern Ireland focussed on three key areas across the country to hold question time events, they were:

• Foyle and East Londonderry constituencies, Wednesday 28th April, City Hotel Derry
• The four Belfast constituencies, Thursday 29th April, Holiday Inn Belfast
• Newry & Armagh and South Down constituencies, Tuesday 4th May, Canal Court Hotel, Merchants Quay Newry

At the meeting our members questioned candidates on the issues of concern to them, before they decided who to vote for.