Public and Commercial Services Union

These pages are for the 23,000 PCS members and representatives who live and work in Yorkshire, North and North East Lincolnshire, in the 52 branches comprising the Yorkshire and the Humber region.

The main aim is to give members and representatives access to information about the work of the regional office, the Yorkshire and the Humber regional committee, and Yorkshire and Humber generally. specific activities and issues.

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Latest news and events

• Yorkshire Post Parliamentary Leader Question Times
• CSCS - Update after the first two days of action
• Defend the civil service compensation scheme
• Messages of support
• Lobby your MP on the CSCS campaign
• Make Your Vote Count training
• Anger over tax office closures

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Yorkshire Post Leader Question Times

An opportunity to quiz the leaders of the three main political parties has been offered by Yorkshire Post to its readers.

David Cameron will be the first to face an audience of YP readers on Thursday 11th March, Nick Clegg will follow on March 19th and Gordon Brown on a yet to be announced date.

Readers who want to take part can send their details and their proposed question to yp.newsdesk@ypn.co.uk.  Title your email Question Time. Ideally readers should be able to attend all three sessions.

Members who read the Yorkshire Post may wish to take part and put PCS issues and concerns direct to the party leaders.

Update 8th March

Feedback from across the region is very positive with new members being recruited and some branches seeing the best support they have had in years.

Well attended rallies took place in Sheffield and Leeds and there has been a lot of press interest across the region.

You can text feedback to 07624806271 or phone us on 0113 200 5300.

If you have photos from the rallies and pickets then please let us have them. We will be producing an update with photos from across the region later in the week.

More information on the national strike and some more success stories.

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Defend the civil service compensation scheme

• No job cuts on the cheap
• All out - 8 and 9 March

More than 23,000 PCS members in the Yorkshire and the Humber region will be striking for two days on 8 and 9 March to defend the civil service compensation scheme.

The Cabinet Office and some employers are seeking to distract members from the real issues at stake and are cynically attempting to divide our members.

However, 63% of members who voted in the ballot said yes to a strike.

Read our rebuttal of the Cabinet Office myths from 1 March

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Messages of support

We congratulate PCS members for the stand they are taking in defence of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme.    Journalists at the Yorkshire Post, Yorkshire Evening Post and Leeds Weekly News last year took 13 days of strike action in defence of our jobs, and for better redundancy terms. We greatly appreciated the support of the PCS, and will be glad to reciprocate in the face of what is a shared struggle.

We sympathise fully with PCS members' determination to defend the scheme, and your opposition to unilateral changes management is attempting to introduce.

Good luck with your struggle.

Peter Lazenby
Chairman, Leeds branch, National Union of Journalists
Joint Father of Chapel, NUJ, Yorkshire Post/Yorkshire Evening Post.

We would like to send fraternal greetings and a message of support to our colleagues in PCS and hope the rally goes well.

Kathryn Stallard
Divisional Secretary
NUT

Fraternal wishes for the 8th and 9th March

Tim Roache
GMB Regional Secretary

I am writing on behalf of Napo - South Yorkshire Branch to express our heartfelt support for PCS members as they take strike action on the 8th and 9th March.

The changes to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme which, if implemented, will have such a devastating impact on the entitlement to pay for staff going through voluntary or compulsory redundancy, are deplorable. Coming at a time when so many public sector workers are living with the threat of major cuts to services and job insecurity this action appears both cynical and opportunistic.

Napo – South Yorkshire Branch sends its very best wishes and fullest solidarity to PCS at this time. Our members in Probation and Cafcass in South Yorkshire have been advised of this action and have been given advice on how best to support your members in South Yorkshire who will be taking action.

Yours in solidarity

Andy Ducker
Napo Convener
South Yorkshire Branch

 

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PCS Yorkshire and the Humber regional secretary Juanita Charles said:

"The changes to the civil service compensation scheme pave the way for wide-scale compulsory redundancies regardless of who wins the general election.

"By vigorously opposing the changes through legal, political and industrial means now, members are making it harder for the politicians and senior civil servants to deliver on their promises of cuts over the next four years.

"The current arrangements were good enough for Margaret Thatcher in 1987 so why aren't they good enough for Gordon Brown in 2010?"

Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said:

"These cuts, which will see loyal civil and public servants lose tens of thousands of pounds if they are forced out of a job, are more about crude politicking than making savings.

"We have suggested ways in which the government can make these savings whilst protecting the rights of existing members, yet it seems intent on penalising the people who keep this country running.

"With civil and public service jobs increasingly at risk, this is a cynical attempt to cut jobs on the cheap which will ultimately damage the services we all rely on.

"The government needs to recognise the depth of anger which has been demonstrated by this ballot result and find the political will to negotiate a settlement that avoids a sustained campaign of industrial action."

Download civil service compensation scheme resources.

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Lobby your MP on the CSCS campaign

Visit our campaign pages for details about MPs' surgeries and advice about how to lobby your MP. 

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Make Your Vote Count training

Two one-day courses have been set up for training coordinators and those interested in getting involved in the campaign in March. Details are available for 19 March and 24 March.

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Anger over tax office closures

The HMRC confirmed plans to close offices across the country, including within Yorkshire and the Humber region. More information including a list of offices can be found on the HMRC pages.