Public and Commercial Services Union

PCS recruitment and representation within the RDAs

As previously reported, The RDA co-ordinating committee has been following up the decision to make recruitment and organising the priority for PCS this year. We believe increased membership will increase our negotiating strength in these very uncertain times.

Since the last meeting your representatives have focused on:

• A full ‘mapping’ exercise in each RDA to find out exactly where all PCS members and potential members work, to help target recruitment, branch organisation and member representation.
• The introduction, as agreed, of special ‘memory sticks’ in all RDAs which contain all PCS publicity material, presentations, forms and information about the importance of joining the union. These have been circulated to all RDAs and can be obtained through your local PCS representative.
• A special one–day training course for representatives course was piloted in PCS HQ on 27 October. This training course focused on personal representation, in particular around the issue of redundancies and restructuring in RDAs, as well as the application of the ‘protocols’ agreement with the Cabinet Office. If you think this training  would be useful, please contact Simon Elliott or Lynne Davies.
• Work has also begun on developing a Youtube presentation for recruitment purposes. An update on progress will be provided at the December RDA co-ordinating committee.
• We have also continued to visit RDAs to discuss local issues and support members and representatives.
• The co-ordinating committee has also updated the new pay and conditions negotiators guide for use by representatives in negotiations, to compare terms and conditions across all RDAs.
• We have also produced a ‘website usage report’, to enable PCS to improve communications to members   

Civil service compensation scheme (CSCS) proposals

As you are no doubt aware, PCS has received proposals to slash current entitlements for staff facing voluntary or compulsory redundancy. The union’s national executive committee (NEC) has rejected these changes, and has begun a major campaign against this attack on your conditions of service.

The proposals are of particular concern to many staff in RDAs who are already faced with uncertainty due to constant re-structuring. The proposed cuts to the CSCS will mean that the option of leaving employment with enough compensation to plan for the future will be removed. This in turn could lead to more compulsory redundancies.

The RDA co-ordinating committee encouraged all members to participate in the official consultation on this issue. We are also producing a recruitment leaflet with RDA-specific examples of the affect these proposals could have on PCS members in RDAs.

PCS is challenging the proposals legally, and further consideration will be given to other types of action in order to overturn this major attack on terms and conditions. Please continue to report back on members’ meetings held to discuss the CSCS. View more information on the campaign.

Transfer of LSC staff to RDAs

Following the proposed closure of the learning and skills council in March 2010, 50-60 staff are likely to be transferred to regional development agencies. Transferred staff will be seconded from the new skills funding agency (SFA) and will retain existing terms and conditions.

We have been assured that the transfers will not put additional RDA staff at risk where re-structuring is in progress, and the co-ordinating committee is working closely with the PCS LSC Group on the issue.

We will inform you when we have more specific details of when and how many staff will transfer into RDAs. In the meantime we would be grateful for any information you may pick up about these proposals.

RDA efficiency savings 2010/11

Staff in the North West development agency have been notified of dramatic proposals to make substantial spending reductions in 2010/11. These proposed savings are in addition to the recent re-structuring exercise which is nearing completion. Clearly this is having an impact on staff morale at NWDA.

The agency's proposal includes:

• all recruitment activity to be suspended with immediate effect;
• all non-essential temporary staff to be given notice to terminate contracts;
• voluntary redundancy scheme with staff exiting by 31 March 2010.

PCS statement

"PCS is concerned at the actions of the Government in slashing the Agency’s budget and putting both the Agency and its staff at risk. We will now be discussing with the Agency the announced plans, in particular the proposed VR Scheme and the impact that this budget cut may have in relation to the agreed multi-year pay agreement.  We will be asking for more details of this decision and the impact it will have on the organisation, we will also be looking for assurances from the Agency as to how it will manage staff uncertainty and concerns over coming months. PCS's priority will be to as best as we can, to safeguard jobs and pay and ensure that any cost saving efficiencies are spread across the entire agencies budget and not just those impacting on staff's pay and job security."

Recruit a colleague!

These efficiency savings, low staff morale, re-structuring and other issues means there has never been a better time to join the union. Increased membership means that together we can we can work to improve the working lives of staff in the RDAs. You can help in this by approaching colleagues and asking them to join PCS.

Remember – together we are stronger! Please feel free to use any of the publicity material described in this circular to recruit a colleague. If you require any help with this, or have any questions about anything contained within this newsbrief, please do not hesitate to contact PCS either through your local rep or using the details below.

Denis O’Connor
RDA Co-ordinating Committee Chair
01772 799837 e: Denis.O’Connor@nwda.co.uk

Lynne Davies
RDA Co-ordinating Committee National Organiser
0191 229 6555 e: lynne.davies2@onenortheast.co.uk

Simon Elliott
PCS Northern Regional Officer
0191 222 0330 e: simon@pcs.org.uk