At lunchtime on the 10th November, members of the union were told that their strike ballot, which had run from 26th September until 7th November, had crossed the 50% turnout threshold. Almost a hundred thousand members in both UK and devolved government areas have achieved a mandate for strike action.
A resounding 86.2% of members voted YES for strike action, covering 126 different employers. This is a massive vote against the UK government’s plans to cut pay, to cut jobs, to cut offices and to attack public services and the terms and conditions of staff who deliver these services, as well as against the insufficient approaches of devolved governments.
This is testament to the phenomenal work put in by rank-and-file union reps and members across the UK. Despite many barriers being placed in their way by the National Executive Committee, reps spent hours contacting every single member in their branches, and sometimes in other branches too, to make sure everyone voted in the ballot.
Prepare for major strikes – including national, all-members action
It is within the authority of the NEC to agree to write to the Departments and the Cabinet Office, to announce dates for action. The anti-union laws mean that a union has to give 14 days of notice of strike action. It is crucial that the union leadership moves quickly to capitalise on this magnificent vote and to put the employer(s) under immediate pressure to concede our demands. BLN supporters proposed exactly this at the NEC meeting which took place on the same day as the ballot result was announced. We proposed that the union should write and demand immediate talks and simultaneously serve notice for action to take place across all 126 employers and preferably on 30 November to coincide with the CWU and UCU. Astonishingly, beyond demanding talks, the NEC has decided not to do this, but to reconvene later in November to discuss how and when to call action.
Major coordinated action has already been announced by other unions, including 115,000 in the Communication Workers Union and 70,000 in the University and Colleges Union, for late November. In London, this would allow striking Whitehall-focused Departments to link up with the major demonstration planned by UCU, raising confidence in a key area for us.
For the NEC to agree merely to write to the Cabinet Office, rather than immediately serve notice of action, shows weakness and allows the Government to play for time.
Broad Left Network supporters, including on the NEC continue to argue in favour of an initial two-day strike of all areas with a legal mandate for action, joining up with those unions calling action towards the end of November. If we were to move now, it could convince other unions, such as the Royal College of Nursing, which also voted for action, to join in.
The disruption caused by two days of action taken together by all areas can then be built on, including by taking out different sectors and different areas on a rolling basis, linking up when there is industrial logic to do so, such as geographic proximity or common areas of work. Enough areas have voted for action that we have sufficient muscle to fight hard.
Instead, the NEC are downplaying the potential role of sustained all-members action, in favour of small-scale targeted action, which can be supported with strike pay. We disagree. Members want national action covering all areas with a mandate to strike, in addition to other kinds of action, to exert maximum pressure on the government.
Re-ballots and action short of strike
Even though the civil service areas with a mandate for action number around 100,000, there are big areas which do not currently have a mandate. HM Revenue and Customs, for example, did not break the 50% turnout threshold requirement, although it was only very narrowly missed.
In contrast to the view of the NEC, we must consider all areas which did not break the threshold for a re-ballot, not just HMRC.
We must also consider whether and when to ballot all areas for action short of a strike. Due to the incompetence of the NEC, a question on action short of a strike was not included in the recent ballot, so members are not able to undertake an overtime ban or a work to rule in any area, despite the major leverage this could provide.
The NEC, at their meeting this morning, did not consider this, and as announced in the Facebook Live meeting last Thursday, they are not now intending to meet until 18th November
Re-building a Fighting, Democratic PCS
Members have given the NEC an enormous mandate to prepare the union for a massive fight that could improve our pay, secure our pensions, protect our terms and conditions and defend our jobs and offices. If the current NEC is not up to this task, they should step aside for a campaigning, socialist NEC that is more attuned to the needs of members.
Major strike action offers the opportunity for a new leadership to step forward. For years now Broad Left areas have been in the forefront of securing yes votes in ballots, and building high turnout. Broad Left Network reps have been the people proposing the serious strategies to win for members. Now we will be the reps who can mobilise members for the most determined strike action.
We want all reps, who are fighting in the trenches for their members, to step up, ditch this failed leadership – unite with us and finally vote for a leadership with the backbone, grit and determination to win.
PCS Broad Left Network 