The Senior Lay Reps Forum called for the 6th August meets at an important time. It can be the platform for continuing the national pay campaign in 2019 and preparing the ground for a successful national ballot in the future. The latest national pay ballot recorded the biggest ever vote in favour of industrial action. This was testament to the strenuous efforts of PCS reps and the anger of members towards the continued pay cap. The failure to achieve the legal threshold of 50% has been exploited by the employer. A further year of pay restraint has been imposed on the civil service and related areas. Departments are being encouraged to trade pay increases above the cap in return for further attacks upon terms and conditions. The government has announced a relaxation of the pay cap for many parts of the public sector, including the Senior Civil Service, but not for the overwhelming majority of civil servants. The contempt shown towards their own employees has caused a real anger amongst PCS members.
Conference in May debated pay at some length. The NEC motion was narrowly carried after a card vote but many reservations were raised about the failure to achieve the 50% in two successive ballots and the need for PCS to consider all tactics that can help us secure a legal mandate in future. The degree to which PCS decides to carry out aggregated or disaggregated votes is a tactical question and should be considered in future ballots. It should be noted that had PCS conducted disaggregated ballots in 2019 a significant number of employer groups would now have a legal mandate to fight on pay. These include HMRC, HMCTS, Rural Payments Agency, Land Registry, DVSA, Natural England, Health and Safety Executive, ACAS, Official Solicitor and 11 other important NDPBs which constitute a significant proportion of PCS members balloted.
The Senior Lay Reps Forum is a chance to receive reports from delegated areas but more importantly, to discuss how PCS nationally can both support and actively coordinate a response in the 2019 pay round. Groups facing increases in line with the pay cap and attempts by the employer to link pay to attacks on conditions need to be consulting members to reject and support action. The example set by members in MOJ gives confidence we can resist these further attacks on conditions. The NEC will need to work closely with groups and national branches in consulting members and continuing to apply the maximum pressure in 2019.
We need to prepare a further national ballot that increases our chances of winning the legal mandate we need to break the cap, resist attacks on terms and conditions and restore our right to bargain pay with the government. This should include the option of disaggregated ballots where the group and branch consider it will increase the turnout and vote for action. In view of the continued attacks upon jobs and offices in a number of major departments and the further and latest threat to redundancy payments and pensions, it is blindingly obvious we need to ensure any future national ballot links pay to these other vital members issues.
It is an abiding weakness in our national pay campaign message that we have yet to draw up and present a clear programme of national, targeted and sustained industrial action that can be supported by a levy from members and financed from the Fighting Fund. This work needs to be completed in readiness for a future national ballot.
Rebuilding our organisation from the workplace up is fundamental to preparing the ground for winning a legal mandate. This needs to complement the strategy highlighted above. PCS needs to work as closely as possible with other civil service unions to register our objection to a further year of pay cuts for civil servants and work on joint campaign activities wherever possible. We also need to use the platform we have at the TUC, STUC and WTUC to build for the coordinated campaign and industrial action of public sector unions in line with TUC congress policy.
The Broad Left Network welcomes this vital discussion at the Senior Lay Reps Forum. With an open and honest assessment of where we are, we can maintain pressure on pay in 2019 and prepare the ground to win the decisive legal mandate vital for reversing the decline in members pay and winning the union’s demands.
PCS Broad Left Network 