Activate: Organising the Met Police

Hundreds of PCS members in the Met Police have been taking strike action since February in a dispute over a forced return to offices. But as Met group organiser Kevin Denman explains, the organisational groundwork for the strike had been laid by the group’s committed reps over many years.

As soon as the employer indicated it would be imposing an unpopular hybrid-working policy, all-members' meetings, smaller branch meetings, and larger group meetings were called – and consistent briefings were written – to, in group vice president Anna Bruce-Hou’s words, "get them engaged and keep them outraged.”

Pre-ballot, the branch made sure its “core organising foundation” – branch data cleansing and member management – was in order. A perennial problem for many Met branches had been the lack of email and telephone numbers in the membership records. Branches allocated buildings to individual reps to split up the work and in turn developed targeted emails to send to members who needed to update their information.

“Rather than sending a bulk email to 25 or 60 people saying 'Dear PCS member', we added their name and their union membership number and provided links to PCS digital and advised them how to sign up and why it is so important,” Kevin says.

Historic ballot

Although the Covid-19 pandemic brought workplace visits to a standstill, branches in the Met began to restore this crucial organising tactic to their repertoire during the ballot phase.

Steve Rule and Kate Carney, organisers in the South East London branch within the Met, regularly carried out (and continue to carry out) workplace visits in person: “This is a back-to-basics approach that the members want – they want that face-to-face interaction and to see their elected reps in person in conjunction with the digital platforms.”

They had mapped out potential workplaces where the proposed arrangements would impact members the most and subsequently went to these sites to speak to members about their concerns.

In the Met, activists have the challenge of engaging with members who not only work from home but also work in various frontline policing roles that provide cover on a 24 hour basis.

To reach these members, the branch held regular Teams and Zoom meetings, sent regular targeted briefing emails, had as many face-to-face conversations as possible, and – for the first time ever – leafleted outside of Met buildings. Another novel workaround was securing a PCS invite to professional development training days.

Kevin explains the ballot itself was a "great activist recruitment opportunity for us". In his branch alone, a dozen new “highly motivated” activists were recruited, while ordinary members were getting more involved than ever. A meeting addressed by PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote and chaired by national president Martin Cavanagh was so packed that hundreds of members were unable to get into a 600-700 capacity meeting hall.

"It was a dream scenario as an organiser where your members are agitating and leading the wave rather than you having to get behind them to create that wave,” he told Activate.

The Met on strike

On the day the action short of a strike was announced (non-compliance with the 60% office attendance policy), the group received the largest daily influx of members it had ever seen; over 50 in a day in Kevin’s branch alone. "Colleagues saw that we were going to fight back,” he says.

Prior to the first strike dates, the group had volunteers that offered to work Callhub and reps were invited to attend the strike school workshops. Activists also ordered materials from the union that would aid in making PCS visible on the picket line. Flyers were placed around Met buildings and noticeboards within the building were kept up to.

On one workplace visit, a staff member remarked that it was the first time in 15 years he had seen a union rep in person. He joined on the spot. But online visibility is equally important. Anna explains that the legacy chats left by Microsoft Teams continue to be used daily by members for updates on the progress of the dispute.

“One of our branch priorities is to keep our membership engaged in the current dispute because if our members see us trying to work towards a positive resolution, that will lead to even more confidence in us as a union,” Steve and Kate add. “They are in turn more likely to retain their own membership and encourage non-members to join.”

Organising for the future

According to Kevin, the Organising 4 Power (O4P) course he attended through PCS played a significant role in helping the group achieve what they have. Yet as he and his Met colleagues admit, getting newer or more isolated reps and advocates more active and visible in their offices – in other words, to build PCS power – has been difficult at times.

Anna shares some of her most impactful messaging: “'What do you want and what can we do about it? We can only change things if you put yourself forward to be that link as I can't keep coming down here – you've got to represent your own issues. The union isn't this thing based in Clapham – you are the union.'"

To welcome new reps, connect them with fellow activists and "demystify" the role of PCS activist, they have held new rep induction days to discuss policies, procedures, and facilities time.

Over the coming months and years, they will use the mapping data they’ve gathered to address PCS underrepresentation in certain departments.

Anna, for instance, has noticed a team where the union has gone from 6 or 7 members to 11 out of 12: “That means there is somebody in that unit who is doing all that organising. I want to approach that person soon to persuade them to become a rep.”

In their organising work, Steve and Kate apply four ‘R’s principles: recruit, retain, reassure and reinforce. For them, “recruiting members and finding the ‘natural born leaders’ – or the ‘go-to person’ – within each workplace or department is crucial”.

“Sometimes these members do not even realise that they naturally have the skillset and qualities that makes a good rep,” they say. “This needs to be highlighted to them to give them the confidence to take the steps to become an advocate or rep and help build the union in the workplace.”