The coronavirus crisis continues as does the pressure on our members and the claimants who rely on us. Maintaining the service and the safety of staff are the major concerns of the union which have dominated meetings of the DWP Group Executive Committee (GEC).
Serious Incident Protocol Needed
The most recent GEC meeting was 21/22 April. At this meeting Broad Left Network (BLN) supporters put forward proposals for a serious incident protocol (similar to that put forward in HMRC). This would lay down clear standards to protect staff and trigger an office/site closure if safeguards are not met. Such a proposal would form the crucial part of a comprehensive agreement which we believe should also include:-
* A clear plan that enables every single DWP worker to work from home unless it is agreed by the TUS as impossible or in cases of domestic violence.
* Full union consultation on all the planning being done to deliver services to the public.
* Agreement that where a member of staff who stays at home cannot work, for example, due to childcare needs, are placed on paid special leave.
* A definition of “key worker”, with the object of the union being to minimise the number of members counted as key workers.
* An agreed list of critical tasks which require staff to attend an office.
* An agreed list of offices which should remain open to deliver crucial services to the vulnerable.
* Continue to oppose the recruitment of agency staff and demand that management directly recruits permanent staff
In absence of this protocol or until it is established, we argued that branches must be supported with the task of conducting updated risk assessments across every building to ensure capacity limits are updated to take account of the need for social distancing. This is particularly important in the context of DWP having the ability to redirect staff from office to office at will. Such redirection must be the subject of consultation at all levels and must be agreed before it happens.
It’s a major criticism that 8 weeks into the virus crisis that many concerns remain unresolved and with no agreement in sight. Despite this fact our proposals were rejected by the Socialist View GEC majority saying they were doing most of these things – which we believe is not the case. Or they said could place individual members at risk of management reprisals – which we reject as we have always been clear that collective action is our best protection.
More Staff Needed
We argued that even with all of the measures above there is an urgent need for further permanent recruitment and that a staffing demand of 20,000 permanent staff be immediately reiterated to DWP senior management.
Stop Office Closures
We welcomed the temporary step back from office closures taken by DWP, but believe the office closure programme should be fully cancelled.
No To Outsourcing
The bringing of outsourced contracts back in house must be a priority along with supporting branches to recruit to the union staff from Interserve, G4S and other privatised services delivered in DWP buildings.
Special Leave Claim
BLN supporters raised the demand that staff working at home or in the workplace should receive some recognition for all their hard work and proposed a claim for 2 weeks paid special leave.
A 10% Pay Increase For Public Sector Workers
BLN supporters raised this demand in as part of the approach to rewarding staff. In the discussion SV supporters rejected this.
GEC Elections
BLN supporters believe democracy is important and that elections should be carried out to ensure a fresh mandate for the GEC. SV majority say this is an NEC decision and it has been decided that the elections are postponed for safety reasons despite the use of electronic voting being available for the GEC elections.
Using Technology and Email Addresses to Engage with Members
We raised the request for zoom accounts to be made available for all Branches that wished to use them. We were told we cannot afford these to be made available despite savings being made on travel and subsistence. A cost of a zoom account starts from £11.99 per month. We also raised the request for branch officers to gain access to members personal email addresses and make the necessary changes with the Data Protection Officer to ensure GDPR compliance for PCS. This was rejected.
Concluding Remarks
Broad Left Network supporters put forward proposals at the GEC on all the major issues of concern to DWP members. We had some success in moving the GEC but mostly faced outright opposition or ‘it’s in hand’ excuses. The GEC can and should do better in challenging management and using our collective strength in securing agreements which will give guarantees of safe working for members working at home or in the workplace.
PCS Broad Left Network 