PCS

Public & Commercial Services Union - trade union for civil servants

Beyond the first wave (John Moloney's column)

The first wave of selective strikes by PCS members, which is still ongoing, has been effective, but no-one is under the illusion that it’ll be sufficient to win our dispute. The major strategic debate therefore in the union is about the blend between selective action and national all-out action. The selective action has been good, and we should continue with that, but it needs to be supplemented with national strikes as well. The National Executive Committee (NEC) will meet on 11 January, and it will discuss this issue. There’s a prospect of taking national strike action in coordination with...

PCS mulls all out strike (John Moloney's column)

As part of the decision of our union, PCS, to roll out selective action on a regional basis, the union has announced more strikes involving Home Office and Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) workers throughout December. The Home Office workers taking action include workers who provide passport services at airports, which could lead to significant disruption. Our National Executive Committee (NEC) met in early December and revisited the discussion about all-out action. There’s a strong feeling that this should be done in coordination with other unions, and there are developing discussions...

Civil service strikes start 13 December (John Moloney's column)

The union has announced strikes involving our members in the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), DWP and the Highways Agency. The strikes will begin on 13 December and continue until mid January. The strikes in DVSA are rolling, regional strikes, the others all-out action. All are designed in such a way as to keep up continual pressure on the employer over a sustained period. The idea is to cause as much disruption as possible to the operation of the civil service. Every worker involved in these strikes will be paid full strike pay. The National Disputes Committee meets now weekly, and...

Send ideas to the NDC! (John Moloney's column)

Our union, PCS, is planning a series of selective strikes across several departments, including the Department for Transport, the Home Office, and the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). The aim here is to bring out sections of the membership that have particular industrial leverage for a sustained period. We hope any day now to send in the strike notices, as we are legally bound to, under the anti-trade union laws. The National Executive Committee (NEC) meets on 7-8 December and may discuss the next phases of the strike programme. The National Disputes Committee (NDC)...

PCS strikes start selective (John Moloney's column)

The PCS National Executive Committee (NEC) has decided on an initial programme of selective action in the Home Office, including the Border Force, across the Department for Transport and in Defra, affecting ports, borders and areas of transport. Whilst the move to action is welcome, I argued at the NEC that there should be at least one day of all-out action in December. My view is that we should have as much all-out action as possible, coupled with selective action. Given the decision our key task now is to ensure that the selective action is as effective as possible ­— the same with the...

Selective action good; no national action bad

The PCS National Executive (NEC) has rejected calls for national action alongside announced targeted action. The PCS Independent Left argued at the NEC [18 November] that members being asked to take sustained selective action should be supported by at least a day of national action by all members with mandates to strike, as a springboard to the campaign. With the posties in the CWU calling six days of action in December, and lecturers in the UCU with three days at the end of November, there could also be effective coordination with other unions. The NEC majority opposed this, with a few areas...

Free movement, not more border cops

The new UK-France deal (announced 14 Nov) to intensify policing against migrants crossing the Channel can only endanger even more lives. The deal includes UK officers joining increased beach patrols on the French coast and extra cash for French port security. Yet the UK already receives fewer refugees than France relative to population. Both lag far behind much poorer countries such as Lebanon and Chad. This is yet another in a decade of successive UK-France deals. The ever-escalating (and ever-costlier) crackdown simply pushes desperate people toward riskier routes (like the 39 people who...

PCS decides on 18 November (John Moloney's column)

We balloted 214 bargaining units and we won in over 120 areas, including Home Office, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Department for Transport. Disappointingly we lost in Revenue and Customs (HMRC) — but the union Executive has taken, what I think is the correct decision to re-ballot those members as soon as possible in the New Year. The ballot wins puts us in a position to take widespread action. Of course, the focus of discussion is now around what sort of action that should be. I think we need to take action as soon as possible, and certainly this year. I also believe we need...

Tens of thousands of civil service workers vote to strike

Many tens of thousands of civil service workers have voted for strikes over pay, as well as over pensions, jobs and redundancy terms. The PCS union is demanding "a 10% pay rise, pensions justice, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms". 126 bargaining groups reached the threshold for action with an average of 87% yes vote representing over 100k members. This is a significant result for PCS, with the highest percentage participating and the highest percentage in favour of action in the union's history. This result gives a mandate for workers such as benefits and pension processors in the...

Action should not stop for talks (John Moloney's column)

Our national ballot closed on 7 November. We expect to have the full results by 9 November, ready for the National Executive on Thursday 10th. PCS disaggregated the ballot into 214 separate units and we are confident of hitting the thresholds in a significant number of areas, including major government departments where workers have particular leverage. Our National Executive will further meet on 18 November to discuss proposals for action. In the week between getting the results and the 18 Nov meeting, the union will write to the Cabinet Office to reiterate our demands put in the ballot: a 10...

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