Month: Jan 2024

The DWP GEC called a Zoom meeting 10th January to discuss problems of staffing and work pressures. There was plenty of talk but absolutely no proposals put forward for doing anything about the situation.

Martin Cavanagh (group president) opened the meeting, which he described as part of a process of engagement. He said last year the GEC asked members to comment on the staffing situation etc. The common theme of the responses was the effect of the staffing crisis on members’ health, mental wellbeing, work pressures and the service to claimants. The response from members justified the union’s demand for an extra 30,000 staff.

The responses formed a 57-page dossier which had been put to departmental management and politicians. Senior management refused a request to discuss the dossier and no meeting with departmental officials is expected until 19 February.

Martin Cavanagh said where do we go from here?  His answer was to call members meetings and ask members what they are prepared to do. He said we are “at the cusp of rising to the challenge” and then went on to list all the difficulties of doing anything which involves industrial action.

The BLN is not opposed to members’ meetings. On the contrary we want to involve members in a serious staffing campaign. But a leadership doesn’t wait to be told what to do – it puts proposals to members covering the demands we are making; it outlines a strategy for securing these demands and seeks members support.

At a Group Executive meeting before Christmas BLN supporters put forward a staffing campaign strategy. The Left Unity group leadership refused to accept it for discussion – the strategy we proposed is reproduced at the end of this article. Left Unity had no strategy of their own then, and they still do not have a strategy now.

No proposals of any kind were put to the Zoom meeting – a wasted opportunity. They have no proposals to put to members’ meetings. This a leadership of All Talk and No Action.

Motion on Group “Protect DWP staff and claimants” campaign

The Group Executive Committee (GEC) notes the dossier submitted to DWP, outlining the concerns expressed by PCS members in DWP group about the impact of inadequate staffing to the health and wellbeing of DWP staff, as well as to the quality of the service provided, and to the health of those relying upon DWP services.

While the response in the press and in Parliament has been favourable, if muted, comments by Stephen Timms, MP and chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, and by other MPs indicate that they are sufficiently concerned to ask questions of ministers in Parliamentary committee meetings, not sufficiently to urgently call for major new recruitment to DWP.

In fact, the GEC notes, the government’s official plan is to reduce the headcount of the UK civil service by 66,000 by 2030. National negotiators at Cabinet Office level are far too complacent, believing that the impending 2024 General Election means these plans will never see the light of day. This is delusional, given Rachel Reeves’ plans to limit tax and spending if Labour take power.

The GEC further notes that the most recent publicly available figures suggest that Departmental staffing has fallen by more than 4,000 full time equivalents in the 18 months from April 2022 (81,228) to October 2023 (77,163). There has been no corresponding fall in workloads, and DWP senior leaders argument that they are recruiting is simply insufficient to fill the gaps.

The GEC therefore instructs group officers as follows:

• That agitational material be prepared for and distributed to all DWP offices, targeted to the key work areas in each office, and using where appropriate anonymised material gathered for the dossier, to emphasise the need for staff, the impact to claimants of too few staff and the need for a serious campaign on staffing and workloads.
• That this material links recruitment issues to low pay, especially AOs who will once again be earning minimum wage this April.
• That dedicated material also be produced addressing the concerns of all managerial grades – especially EO and HEO Team Leaders –who are also being failed by the current staffing problems, including extensive open ended use of TDA instead of opportunities for substantive internal promotion, urging them to join the union and to join the PCS staffing campaign.
• That group officers draw up and present for scrutiny and review by a GEC in January 2024 a detailed campaign plan that moves the group towards opening a legitimate trade dispute with DWP over staffing, and which takes account any information we have about the timescales of the pending national re-ballot on pay, pensions, redundancy rights and a compulsory redundancy guarantee.
• This strategy should also include avenues to build further media pressure and clear political demands to be placed on the Labour Party, in line with PCS group and annual delegate conferences, to eliminate sanctions, to improve frontline services to all claimants and to eliminate discrimination against and improve support for disabled claimants.
• That any Group Officer who addresses the rearranged all-members on 10^th January focuses upon the slowness of DWP’s response to our legitimate concerns, the need for a vigorous campaign, and the reality that forcing such a change will likely require strike action, that our leverage in such action is greater in a General Election year, and lays out the steps the Group Officers are taking to prepare sufficient resources to mount and win such a campaign.
• That contact with organisations representing DWP claimants is made in advance of any ballot on staffing, to discuss how claimants’ organisations might support such a ballot, and how we might coordinate messaging, public activity such as media work, political pressure, protests and other methods to maximise the profile of the campaign.

As there are such longstanding and ongoing staffing issues in DWP with clear policy carried at our Group Conference in 2022 covering the need to launch a serious campaign to address this, shockingly 18 months on we are still at the very early stages of the GEC even considering doing anything to address the immense pressure on our members.

This pressure has only increased since 2022. Despite continual recruitment the DWP struggles to even maintain staffing at a steady level and this actually went down by 4000 full time equivalents between April 2022 and October 2023.  It is not surprising that AO staff in particular have left in droves with pay so low that the minimum wage overtook the derisory pay for this grade earlier this year and is set to do the same next year.  Overall we have lost 20,000 AOs since 2014 and this is causing phenomenal pressure in key jobs delivering the complex benefit system.  The GEC has also not reported any attempts to implement the Group policies on addressing the grading of certain  AO work. Even a slight increase in the overall numbers of EO grade staff in the same period has not relieved any pressure as many “new recruits” are existing members going for promotion.  And there has also been a huge increase in work created for EOs, so any extra staff in this grade make no dent in the immense workload pressures.

Our BLN members elected onto the GEC will keep pressing the GEC leadership to build a serious campaign on staffing. There can be no doubt about the ever-worsening workload pressures on our members, we have clear policy demanding 30,000 extra staff carried in 2022 and even management actions show they recognise it is impossible to deliver services with the staffing levels we currently have, judging by the constant application of mitigations in how we deliver work and movement of staff and work around the DWP.

On top of this we face a Tory onslaught demanding further cuts to civil service staffing and no relief from opposition parties who are committing to remain within Tory spending limits which we must challenge as a union.

What is needed is a clear lead being given by the group leadership with a plan for action in how we translate the pressure on our members into a concrete dispute we can win.

We submitted a motion to help aid this debate at the emergency GEC called on 21/12/23. Although the meeting did discuss the staffing campaign, the group leadership refused to take the motion at this meeting or address the key tasks that need to be urgently done to build a strong campaign on staffing. 

This is the text of the motion we submitted which you can discuss in branches and work with us to build the fight back on staffing along with all the attacks on our members.  

Contact the BLN if you want a speaker at your AGM on how we can build a fighting union with a fighting DWP Group leadership to tackle all the challenges ahead.

Motion on Group “Protect DWP staff and claimants” campaign

The Group Executive Committee (GEC) notes the dossier submitted to DWP, outlining the concerns expressed by PCS members in DWP group about the impact of inadequate staffing to the health and wellbeing of DWP staff, as well as to the quality of the service provided, and to the health of those relying upon DWP services.

While the response in the press and in Parliament has been favourable, if muted, comments by Stephen Timms, MP and chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, and by other MPs indicate that they are sufficiently concerned to ask questions of ministers in Parliamentary committee meetings, not sufficiently to urgently call for major new recruitment to DWP.

In fact, the GEC notes, the government’s official plan is to reduce the headcount of the UK civil service by 66,000 by 2030. National negotiators at Cabinet Office level are far too complacent, believing that the impending 2024 General Election means these plans will never see the light of day. This is delusional, given Rachel Reeves’ plans to limit tax and spending if Labour take power.

The GEC further notes that the most recent publicly available figures suggest that Departmental staffing has fallen by more than 4,000 full time equivalents in the 18 months from April 2022 (81,228) to October 2023 (77,163). There has been no corresponding fall in workloads, and DWP senior leaders argument that they are recruiting is simply insufficient to fill the gaps.

The GEC therefore instructs group officers as follows:

• That agitational material be prepared for and distributed to all DWP offices, targeted to the key work areas in each office, and using where appropriate anonymised material gathered for the dossier, to emphasise the need for staff, the impact to claimants of too few staff and the need for a serious campaign on staffing and workloads.
• That this material links recruitment issues to low pay, especially AOs who will once again be earning minimum wage this April.
• That dedicated material also be produced addressing the concerns of all managerial grades – especially EO and HEO Team Leaders – who are also being failed by the current staffing problems, including extensive open-ended use of TDA instead of opportunities for substantive internal promotion, urging them to join the union and to join the PCS staffing campaign.
• That group officers draw up and present for scrutiny and review by a GEC in January 2024 a detailed campaign plan that moves the group towards opening a legitimate trade dispute with DWP over staffing, and which takes account any information we have about the timescales of the pending national re-ballot on pay, pensions, redundancy rights and a compulsory redundancy guarantee.
• This strategy should also include avenues to build further media pressure and clear political demands to be placed on the Labour Party, in line with PCS group and annual delegate conferences, to eliminate sanctions, to improve frontline services to all claimants and to eliminate discrimination against and improve support for disabled claimants.
• That any Group Officer who addresses the rearranged all-members on 10^th January focuses upon the slowness of DWP’s response to our legitimate concerns, the need for a vigorous campaign, and the reality that forcing such a change will likely require strike action, that our leverage in such action is greater in a General Election year, and lays out the steps the Group Officers are taking to prepare sufficient resources to mount and win such a campaign.
• That contact with organisations representing DWP claimants is made in advance of any ballot on staffing, to discuss how claimants’ organisations might support such a ballot, and how we might coordinate messaging, public activity such as media work, political pressure, protests and other methods to maximise the profile of the campaign.

Since the invasion by the Israeli armed forces on 27 October, the situation for civilians in the Gaza Strip has sharply deteriorated.

At least 22,000 people have been killed by Israeli forces, including over 7,000 children, and this figure is likely too low; thousands more are listed as missing and organisations including the Gaza Health Ministry have cited major difficulties posed by the siege and hostilities in rendering medical aid to casualties and identifying the number of dead.

In addition to being cut off from basic supplies including food and electricity, civilians have been subjected to countless IDF air strikes, including those confirmed by the United Nations on schools and hospitals.

The longer this situation persists, disrupting aid to Palestinian civilians, the more people will die – and it is significant that the families of those Israelis kidnapped by Hamas marched on the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, on 13 December to demand that their government get back to the negotiating table. It is ever more apparent that bombing will not rescue the kidnapped.

Major UK demonstrations for peace continue

Around the world, millions of working class people have erupted into anger at the murderous actions of the Israeli state, provoking demonstrations. The vast majority have no sympathy with Hamas, but are outraged by the killings and destruction of communities in Gaza and understand that – contrary to the views of warmongers like Netanyahu – Hamas cannot be beaten by armed force any more than the US could ultimately defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan.

In the UK in many cities and on almost every weekend since the invasion, there have been major demonstrations, many joined by UK-born Palestinians and the families of those who live in Gaza, who have tried to get their families out, or who have not been able to contact their families. Broad Left Network (BLN) supporters in PCS have supported all of these.

At a recent demonstration in London, PCS members asked union reps what else their union can do to force an end to the conflict, and to support members with family caught up in the crisis.

The political power of these demonstrations cannot be underestimated. Netanyahu himself has publicly spoken about the need to reverse their impact. A massive backlash as the horrors of the invasion were exposed, aided by the demonstrations in putting forward the clear demand for a ceasefire helped secure a truce from 23 November until 1 December.

Most unions, including PCS, have published statements calling for an end to hostilities, and leaders have spoken on major demonstrations to call for the same. Unions in general can and should go much further, however, to mobilise the power of labour to force an end to the conflict, particularly given the role of PCS as the largest trade union in the UK Civil Service.

Build mass opposition to the conflict

Several PCS branches and groups have been proactive in encouraging union members to join weekly demonstrations in London, called under the auspices of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. This is a good first step to building support for the demands for a ceasefire and a wider political settlement that would allow for a sustained peace, and could be widened to other parts of the UK.

It is with surprise, therefore, that supporters of the BLN on the PCS National Executive Committee found themselves outvoted by the majority of the union’s NEC on exactly this question. The NEC majority under President (now also General Secretary-elect Fran Heathcote) voted against a proposal by Asst General Secretary John Moloney to work to broaden out these demos across the UK.

The union’s NEC met on 6/7 December. In their deliberations, the majority Democracy Alliance grouping opposed further regional demonstrations, opposed a donation to the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) appeal to support international unions’ efforts to get medical supplies and food in to Gaza.

Democracy Alliance members of the PCS National Executive further opposed a proposal to hold a national lunch time online meeting to publicise the union’s position on the Gaza conflict. This national meeting was intended to have a Palestine Solidarity Campaign speaker, to help people understand what has been going on and what they can do to help force an end to the invasion.

At the NEC meeting, the question of a small number of resignations from the union over the Gaza statement was raised as a reason not to do more for Gaza.

Branch reps who work alongside BLN supporters in building the union have told us that a very small number of resignation letters have been received denouncing the union for “supporting Hamas”, which is simply not true.

Overall we believe the number to be several dozen. Any time the union takes a strong position on questions that matter to workers, a small number of people will not like it and will prefer to resign from the union to engaging with the union’s democratic processes, including members’ meetings that have been called by branches to discuss participation in demonstrations etc.

This is not a reason to shrink from a robust defence of the lives of Palestinians facing the destruction of their homes, communities and lives.

We call on the union’s NEC to reverse their position, to agree the donation to the ITF appeal, to agree to organise workplace and city or town based demonstrations in concert with other arms of the labour movement and national campaign organisations such as Stop the War Coalition, to call for a ceasefire, and to organise a national PCS meeting to explain the union’s position and what members can do, with a speaker from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Our union, in particular, must be more proactive in ensuring that civil servants are protected from the government’s attempts to politicise civil service workplaces by projecting the Israeli flag on to buildings, and from any activity which may be in breach of UK or international law, including having any role in the transfer of weapons to a state that is clearly attacking civilians.

Much more than this, we need to work across the entire labour movement to increase the numbers on demonstrations, to call for a ceasefire and an enduring solution that permanently ends the siege of Gaza, for mass struggle of Palestinians for liberation, for international links to be built with the Israeli and Palestinian working class and trade unions, and for an independent socialist Palestine.

Trade unions, the largest membership-based organisations in the UK, and representatives of the “sleeping superpower”, the working class, have a crucial role to play in this, and should name the day for a national day of action – following the example of school and college students – for workers to unite on the streets in protest at our government standing by while Gazans are slaughtered.

This requires national coordination across all trade unions, especially given the propensity of senior ministers in government to talk in extreme terms about banning demonstrations and using force against demonstrators. PCS could take this up with the UK Trade Union Congress (TUC). The defence of any group of workers in the UK who strike to block arms to Israel must also be raised.

Escalate political opposition to the war

We also need an organised political opposition to the Israeli armed offensive, including opposition to the UK supplying arms to Israel, and in favour of the provision of humanitarian aid to all those who need it. Keir Starmer’s early adoption of a pro-Israeli stance that ignored breaches of international and humanitarian law shows clearly that the Labour leadership are unwilling to play this role.

The result has been dozens of elected councillors resigning from the Labour Party in protest at the failure of the leadership to prioritise the lives of Palestinians over Starmer’s continued posture of total submission to the foreign policy imperatives of the USA, the biggest foreign backer of the Israeli invasion, which vetoed a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire.

Trade unions could convene an open meeting under a “Stop the War” umbrella, drawing together all socialist political forces, including MPs and councillors who have called for solidarity with Palestine and who oppose the invasion, to organise political opposition, to raise the profile of and pressure exerted by those calling for peace, including defence of workers who act to halt arms exports.

Civil servants are politically impartial, we serve the government of the day, but we are also citizens, and recognise that our own safety and security lies in international working class solidarity. We put no trust in the government to have our interests at heart, and will fight through our unions for a just and lasting peace and against the profiteering war machines of any nation.