An update and a chance to say thank you

It is approaching two years since I put myself forward for election as PCS general secretary, having previously been national president and a lifelong PCS activist.

Of course, it was always going to be a daunting prospect to replace Mark Serwotka, following his 23 years of successful stewardship of our union, however, I am pleased to report that already, we have achieved so much together as a union. I am keen to share this with you.

Since I was elected, we have built PCS on a number of fronts.

Industrial progress

• The changed UK government, from Tory to Labour, has meant that, while we continue to fight for improved pay, conditions and trade union rights, we are at least at the table where talks with ministers are possible.
• In 2024, we secured an improvement in the pay offer for members with the then newly-elected Labour government, and we have now secured national talks to continue to press for above-inflation pay rises, pay coherence across departments and full pay restoration for the years of below-inflation pay suffered by members.
• In August, we held national activist fora and now we are organising ballot-ready schools in September, in preparation for potential national action should the overall conclusion of pay talks not result in the progress that members deserve.
• Already, we have taken on a large-scale industrial battle and won an unprecedented victory for outsourced facilities management (FM) workers across a range of government contracts – improving their pay and conditions, including, for many, proper sick pay provision for the first time.  Thanks to the brilliant campaigning by our outsourced members, and the action that they took, we are now in groundbreaking talks, discussing coherence and working towards insourcing this work back into the civil service. This will give FM workers job security and peace of mind.
• We have been actively campaigning against detrimental changes to the Skilled Workers’ Visa. The significant increase to the income threshold leaves many of our members unable to work in DWP, due to their low pay, and has led to one of our reps, Farouq Ahmed, being deported. Outside London, all DWP EO staff earn below the threshold. We are getting ready to push this issue again at TUC congress in September

Legal victories

• In November 2024 PCS won a stunning Supreme Court victory over the 2014 Tory/Liberal government withdrawal of members’ payroll deduction of union dues (“check-off”). This was a deliberate effort by the then government to break our union, and it was followed by years of effort by our brilliant reps to rebuild our strength.
• PCS also took the UK government to the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court over overpayment of pension contributions by members. Despite us ultimately not being successful in reversing the changes introduced by the previous government, we continue to push this issue in national negotiations in talks with the current government.
• In April 2025 we had a further victory for members as the Labour government agreed to end the attack on the Civil Service Compensation Scheme. 

Membership growth 

• PCS membership income increased by over £2 million in 2024 and is forecast to increase in 2025 from £26 million to £28.3 million.
• The PCS member support team dealt with 26,000 enquiries in the first part of 2025, over 20,000 of which are now completed cases. We remain in active contact with members with queries about every aspect of our union.
• We now actively contact lapsing members to establish their reason for leaving and try to help them to stay in the union, where appropriate.
• We introduced “PCS Assist” a digital tool to help signpost members to answers to common questions, in addition to direct contact with the appropriate rep or officer.

Financial stability

• Under my leadership, the independent audit of the union’s finances has confirmed that our financial management and performance is now that of a healthy, financially-sound organisation and that the threat to the future of PCS, posed by the removal of check off by the Tories in 2015, has been defeated.
• I have sought to repair the asset base of the union with an increased £3 million being invested into the long-term financial security of the union.
• I am now proposing to introduce a Surplus Fund Investment Programme, to build union reserves in advance of the next general election, to further our members’ industrial and political interests, and to safeguard the financial independence of PCS for the future. The NEC will debate this in September.

Staffing

• We have gripped staffing costs, reducing them to 32% of our subscription income since I took up office, consistent with our stated aim of spending approximately 33% of members’ subs on staffing costs.
• Within the new staffing structure, the PCS gender pay gap is now at 0% for the second year running, while other unions retain a gender pay gap of between 10% and 25%.
• Under the new structure, we have been able to target resources where our reps say that they are most needed.

PCS offices

• PCS headquarters in Clapham Junction now generates £1.6m per annum in rental income, in addition to high quality space for PCS staff, and a suite of meeting facilities for lay activists.
• At HQ, we have introduced a range of environmental improvements to our building and the wider community including: a wildlife garden; solar panels (meaning that we anticipate being able to fund all of our own energy by the end of 2025); a roof-top beehive; food waste composting; battery recycling points; rainwater harvesting and electric bike and vehicle charging points. 
• We are now undertaking an accommodation review of all PCS offices around the country, seeking to improve provision and access for our reps and activists in the post-pandemic world.

Justice, human rights and international solidarity

• As previously reported, we continue to campaign against detrimental changes to the Skilled Workers’ Visa.
• On 25 March 2025, PCS and Care4Calais launched a new report - Safe and Secure Routes: Refugee Visa-to-Travel Proposal.
• PCS has consistently condemned the atrocities of the Israeli government in Gaza, as well as condemning Hamas killings and calling for the return of the remaining Israeli hostages.  We have also demanded the rights of civil servants to oppose apartheid and genocide and collect for humanitarian charities in the workplace.
• I took part in the Big Rides for Palestine this summer to fundraise for Medical Aid for Palestine, as well as the Gaza Sunbirds.
• This summer we launched our updated Tax Justice Policy, that examines a range of changes to the UK’s tax system, which could bring in a baseline of around £70 billion. This would make massive inroads into what tax experts estimate is the £100 billion ‘tax gap’, the tax that should be paid, but isn’t, because of avoidance (legal), evasion (illegal), and simply because it isn’t being collected, including because of a lack of HMRC resources. PCS demands more staff, not less.

Democracy, Communication and Participation

• Our first devolved nation policy-making conferences were held in Scotland and Wales, to which over 100 motions were submitted, and nation executives have been directly elected by all members in both devolved nations for the first time.
• We are developing our approach to new Mayoral Strategic Authorities to be established under the English devolution legislation, and to ensure that our sphere of interest is protected in relation to current civil service workstreams, staff and members whose work may be transferred.
• The PCS Facebook page is where we receive the most active communication engagement from members. Members mostly comment on pay, protests, union actions, working conditions and political matters. While most comments are neutral, we have a high level of positive comments, and of course some critique and criticism take place too.
• Our new members’ WhatsApp channel was launched in May – now members can get updates from the union straight to their phones.

Deploying our resources wisely

• In what is a greatly improved financial position, we have invested our resources in our frontline services, where you told us that they were needed, with the biggest increases in over a decade to the budgets for organising, employment law, campaigning, membership benefits, digital, and anti-racism/anti fascism work.   

A huge thank you

Of course, I do not claim to have single-handedly achieved all of this by myself. Our successes as a union are always the result of our collective approach.

I wish to thank our president, Martin Cavanagh for his confidence and support for me in this first phase as general secretary.  In the face of fierce criticism of both of us, stirred up by misrepresentations of some political factions last year, Martin has successfully steered the national executive committee (NEC) for the good of our members, and stood by me in all of the decisions that I have made, that are detailed above.

I also wish to thank all our PCS staff, who are deeply committed to supporting our members in everything they do. From the secretariat that works directly to me, to the staff teams that cover every aspect of our work, I am proud to work alongside so many fantastic and talented individuals.

And finally, I wish to thank the reps and members that put their faith in me to stand for election as general secretary and who continue to work constructively with me to advance our members’ interests. You make a tough job a real pleasure, every single day.