Public and Commercial Services Union

The Revenue and Customs group executive committee (GEC) met on 29 and 30 October. At its meeting the GEC agreed to fully endorse the national pay campaign, and ensure that all resources are devoted to delivering action from 10 November.

See the ‘What’s New’ page for information specifically on the pay dispute. This item updates members on a range of issues that have been considered by the GEC and will be of key importance to PCS members.

HMRC pay

Members were balloted on the final pay offer from HMRC from 26 August to 17 September, as planned. Members voted positively on both rejection (83:17) and further action (by 82:18) over and above any action called for by the national union, should that be necessary. We are now seeking a meeting with both the new CEO, when she takes up her position, and with the new financial secretary to the Treasury, at which we will be seeking to press the case for movement on HMRC pay in keeping with the national campaign parameters.

VOA pay

PCS members in the VOA were balloted on their offer in September and supported the VOAC’s recommendation to reject the offer by a ratio of 2:1.

VOA management have informed PCS that they intend to impose the pay offer in salaries at the end of November.

PCS has responded reminding management that we want a negotiated settlement but in the absence of one will step up the campaign for fair pay over the coming weeks.

Further VOA specific briefings have been issued to PCS members in the VOA.

National pay

In the statutory ballot, PCS members endorsed the call for both strike action and action short of strike action.

The NEC met on 23 October to consider the result, negotiations and subsequent action.

The NEC’s decision is that national action will begin with a day’s strike on Monday, 10 November, followed by a civil service wide overtime ban from 11 November.

The NEC will meet again on 12 November to consider the impact of the action and the requirement to engage in further action.

Office closures

The final round of office closure announcements are expected in November. These last set of announcements will affect members in some of the most isolated offices across the UK.

The position of the GEC remains that if compulsory redundancy notices are issued; if staff are forced to move to offices outside reasonable daily travelling distance; or if the department proceeds to close offices that impact detrimentally on staff or public service delivery, immediate consideration will be given to a ballot of all members for industrial action.

Overtime

Group conference resolution EM14 establishes a commitment to ballot for industrial action where overtime use is identified as masking job cuts, with a priority placed on seeking to conclude negotiations on overtime and reaching agreement where possible.

Overtime continues to be widely offered in the largest areas, notably across Processing, in contact centres and in DMB, and in most areas there is no indication that the employer intends to reduce the amount of overtime being offered.

It is clear now that the establishment and enforcement of the civil service wide overtime ban in HMRC must take priority.

LEAN

The decision from this year’s PCS Revenue and Customs group conference calls again for the cessation of hourly counts and the removal of performance boards from teams.

If these objectives are not met the action called for is action short of strike action, in the form of an overtime ban and work to rule.

We are engaged in discussions with HMRC on these issues and further consideration will be given to the negotiating position and requirement for further action when the GEC meets again on 17 November.

The GEC has in any event agreed, and we have subsequently communicated to branches, that we will work directly with branches and BECs to identify areas where LEAN working methods are being used to bully or intimidate members, or place members under additional and unnecessary pressure, with a view to considering the extent to which members in these areas and workplaces are prepared to engage in specific action over and above any departmental wide action in relation to pay.

Contact centres and flexible working

The GEC, working in close conjunction with key contact centre PCS reps, has agreed a set of negotiating objectives that both seek to preserve traditional contract arrangements and extend the scope of flexibility arrangements for all staff.

There are, in addition, a range of broader issues in contact centres that need addressing, stemming from a fundamental lack of resourcing in this business area and the problems that flow from this.

Our key demands have been presented to CCD management, and the response from management, and progress made in any further negotiations, will be considered by the GEC at its meeting on 17 November.

Privatisation of security guards

The jobs of over 200 HMRC security guards responsible for guarding some of the most sensitive departmental buildings in the country are currently under threat of privatisation.

PCS are absolutely opposed to privatisation, and negotiations and campaigning activity in this area has been stepped up considerably, with the primary aim of encouraging both the department and the government to reconsider outsourcing this or indeed any other part of HMRC.

This has included site meetings with security reps in key areas. A further meeting of representatives from all sites will take place on 4 November, and the GEC will give further consideration to the negotiating and campaigning agenda when it meets on 17 November.

In any event a formal move to privatise any function of HMRC is likely to lead us into dispute with the employer and trigger a separate ballot of all members.

Tax Justice Campaign

Through the GEC’s campaigns committee, and in concert with the national union, we have been taking forward a campaign highlighting the issues surrounding the ‘tax gap’, as iterated in the TUC report ‘The Missing Billions’.

The focus continues to be on the seeming illogicality of cutting HMRC staff by the thousands whilst the tax gap has increased by billions, estimated, indeed, to be as high as £100 billion.

In so doing we have previously made representations to the relevant parliamentary select committees, raised the issues through the PCS parliamentary group of MPs, identified concerns with the relevant ministers, and made common cause with a cross-section of ‘interest’ groups, including accountancy bodies, trade publications and international campaigning organisations.

A PCS sponsored meeting will take place on Tuesday, 18 November, in Westminster, highlighting the issue directly with MPs and influential sections of the media.

Summary

Our primary focus now is delivering national action on 10 November and implementing immediately an effective overtime ban from 11 November.

In addition we are actively pursuing all other issues of concern to PCS members in the key areas. Progress towards meeting our objectives in all of these areas will be considered at the GEC meeting planned for 17 November.

Decisions on action required in furtherance of achieving our respective objectives in all other areas, including in Contact Centres, Processing and outsourcing, will be made at the forthcoming GEC meeting.

We are now asking members to:

• Support the call for action on pay on 10 November
• Attend union meetings organised in your areas
• Please observe the overtime ban across the civil service from 11 November
• Get involved in union campaigning activity where you work