Let down again on pay day? Vote YES in the DWP consultative ballot

How was it for you? Bit of a let-down I’m guessing. I know I opened my banking app this morning to find that for all of the work I and my colleagues do, in the Department for Work and Pensions, for all of the work we will be expected to do in the coming year and beyond, I will receive a measly £50 extra each month, approximately £12 a week as remuneration for energy spent, stress incurred, and goodwill given, to keep this department above water.

It is not good enough, we deserve better.

You will have seen that the consultative pay ballot has been extended. There are two reasons for that. First, we want every member to have the opportunity to speak on pay – calls and texts have told us that far too many had not received an email with a link to the ballot and replacements are still being requested now. Secondly, the ballot was to finish on payday, when members would have seen ‘what you didn’t receive’. As papers had not yet arrived for many, why would we not extend the ballot and give you chance to speak out, having seen your bank account?

As an administrative officer in the DWP, I have seen the erosion of pay, I know I am paid thousands less than I would have been had successive governments not held down our pay for the last fifteen years, and more. I know the struggle our members face trying to feed our families, I know because I too find it difficult to support my own family.

Add to low pay the fact that every single person with a protected characteristic faces a pay gap – women, disabled workers, Black workers and our LGBT+ workers, how are we surviving? Many are forced to claim Universal Credit, the ‘benefit’ we administer. So DWP can dip into the public purse to pay you Universal Credit, with the stigma they place on claimants, but they refuse to pull money from the public purse to put into your pay packet.

My babies are grown, so I do not right now have to claim Universal Credit, but I know many of you do, and I know the issues that are linked to that for you all, especially where bonuses and back pay are concerned. It is wrong. All of it. And that’s without mentioning the attacks that are coming to Personal Independence Payments.

DWP refused to ask for more money for you, I want to ensure every one of you is able to respond to that decision.

If you agree with my take on this, if you agree that DWP must do better, then please, go to your personal email inbox and find the ballot email that would have arrived on 9th or 23rd September from [email protected]. Check your spam and your junk, and return that ballot today. If you haven’t voted already, you will get a reminder email on 1 October.

Let DWP know that PCS is speaking on your behalf, that it is the weight of the membership telling them enough is enough. They must do better.

If you are still unsure why we are balloting and would like to find out more, please come to one of the Zoom meetings on Thursday, 2 October at 12:30pm or 6pm.

I look forward to seeing you there.