Meet a Black Rep: Yohance

PCS: How and why did you first join and get involved in PCS? 

Yohance: "I joined PCS about a year after I started working for the civil service. By the time I’d joined the civil service, I was quite burnt out from working in politics, so didn’t initially get involved with workplace organising.

"During Covid I began to re-engage with politics generally and the workers’ movement in particular, so joining the union became an obvious first step."

PCS: Can you describe your introduction to the union's organised structures and your early experiences of PCS activism? 

Yohance: "I slowly eased my way into the structures of PCS over a number of years. I became an advocate in 2022, a rep in 2023, and branch chair in 2025. 

"My early experience of union activism was characterised by the 2023 strike wave, where I helped coordinate the picket lines and galvanise support for the action at DCMS."

PCS: Today, what does PCS activism look like for you? What do/does your role/roles entail in your workplace? 

Yohance: "These days I juggle quite a few roles. In addition to being branch chair, I’m on the national Black members' committee (NBMC) and the Defra group executive committee (GEC). 

"I do quite a lot of casework. Changes requiring more office attendance and limiting homeworking contracts, as well as the relatively strict sick leave policy of the department, have led to a spike in member cases, which are my priority as a rep. 

"In all of my roles, I act as a voice for Black members, keeping the branch and GEC informed of developments in NBMC and vice versa. I’m very proud of around a third of our branch reps being Black members."

PCS: Looking back over the past few years, are there any projects, personal cases, workplace campaigns or even organising in the workplace that you're most proud of? 

Yohance: "On the activist side, I am most involved in – and most proud of – solidarity actions with Palestine in the wake of the war on Gaza. 

"Over the past few years, the branch has run regular bake sales, which have raised thousands of pounds for the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians. 

"This rank-and-file action has been fantastically successful and encouraged us to work with other branches to encourage them to take similar actions in their branches and workplaces."

PCS: At the moment, what are you and your branch focused on and what are you planning for the coming months and years? 

Yohance: "The department is going through a lot of flux at the moment: multiple restructures are taking place, lots of experienced workers have left through voluntary exit schemes in both the department and the attached arm’s-length bodies, and the regulators are being reformed to try and tackle some of the issues in the water sector. 

"The priority of our branch remains supporting members in the workplace, making sure conditions are fair and pushing back against arbitrary changes to working changes and office closures where we can.

"On the activist front, we are planning to ramp up anti-fascist and anti-imperialist activism in the lead up to the Together Alliance protest on 28 March. PCS is affiliated to many positive internationalist campaigns, and one of my aims for the branch is to increase rank-and-file activity between branches where we can meet and do things like leaflet and attend marches in person. 

"There is an advantage to so many workers being in close proximity in Whitehall: we can come together and pool resources. 

"While we have successfully leveraged this during strike days, between acute points of struggle it is necessary to build a sustainable infrastructure to maintain the interest and activity of union members and combat the idea that the union is simply an insurance policy rather than the essential political organisation of the working class."

PCS: What advice would you give to Black members who want to get more involved with the union? 

Yohance: "Don’t be intimidated, and don’t feel pressure to take on too much. 

"The majority of Black reps wear multiple hats – I’ve described my many positions here – and massively overextending yourself will just lead to burnout. It’s perfectly fine to be a curious member with a particular interest in specific campaigns or actions. 

"It is very easy for Black reps to overstretch ourselves out of a sense of responsibility, picking up regional or group roles in addition to representing members in our branch due to a lack of Black representation at higher levels. 

"I’d urge any Black member wanting to get more involved to take it easy and give yourself some grace."