Conference votes to continue campaigning against Minimum Service Levels

Motion A19 was proposed by the NEC and seconded by DWP Essex branch.

The motion noted that 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of a ban on trade unions at GCHQ, and commended the march and rally held in Cheltenham on 27 January, organised by PCS and the TUC, which recognised the sacrifice of those involved.

This historical struggle for trade union rights continues with the fight against Minimum Service Levels, which attacks the right of our members in the Home Office to strike, as well as the right to strike of workers in many other sectors, including teaching and the NHS.

In passing the motion, conference instructed the NEC to:

• Support any trade union affected by the legislation and work closely with the TUC to ensure maximum mobilisation for action against any strike notices,
• Work with branches to ensure members know their legal rights if a work notice is issued.
• Continue to work with the PCS parliamentary group to campaign against this legislation.
• Lobby the Labour Party to ensure it remains committed to repealing the act and restoring trade union rights.

Moving the motion for the national executive committee, PCS General Secretary Fran Heathcote welcomed the observers from GCHQ and families of the GCHQ campaign to conference and pointed out that the “battle for trade union freedom is far from over” with the “legislative assault” from the Tory government. She outlined our legal challenge and campaign against the MSL Act and explained how we would take inspiration from the workers at GCHQ.

The motion was unanimously carried without debate.

Read more about the GCHQ trade union ban and our campaign to defend trade union rights.

Find essential information about the conference on the ADC 2024 web page and follow our website for further updates throughout the week.