The union’s National Executive Committee has agreed to a national ballot of members for industrial action from 20 October to 1 December. The ballot for action is in support of the union’s demands on pay, jobs and conditions – demands which cannot be met by the 3.5% government imposed pay remit – only 2% of which is funded. If we want more money we will have to fight for it.
Ballot papers will be sent electronically, unless members are in Northern Ireland or do not have a valid email address.
The task now is to turn the decision into the biggest possible organising campaign across PCS and deliver the turnout and Yes vote we need to take effective national action.
BLN argued for an earlier ballot
It has been clear for some time that the government will not agree to our demands without a fight. For this reason, BLN members of the NEC have consistently argued that we should launch a ballot by 30th September, as mandated by our Conference in May.
However, at its last meeting the NEC was belatedly told by the General Secretary that an electronic (by email) ballot could not be organised before 20 October.
Given the circumstances, we reluctantly agreed that the ballot should start on this later date.
Statutory ballot – no more delays!
The NEC rejected a proposal that PCS should first conduct a consultative ballot. Instead, the NEC agreed to go for a statutory industrial action ballot from 20 October to 1 December.
Members have already made clear the scale of the problems facing us. We do not need endless consultation while jobs, pay and conditions are under attack. We need to organise members to win an industrial action mandate capable of putting real pressure on the government.
What we are fighting for
We are campaigning on pay, jobs, pensions, hybrid working and terms and conditions.
On pay, our conference policy is for a 10% pay rise, an £18-an-hour minimum wage and appropriate London weighting. Low pay and the erosion of differentials continue to plague the civil service, with increases in the National Living Wage repeatedly catching up with the lowest civil service grades.
The government’s 3.5% Civil Service Pay Remit does not meet those demands.
We are also demanding a job security agreement, including protection against compulsory redundancies. Tens of thousands of jobs are potentially at stake. The Institute for Government estimates that around 40,000 civil service jobs could disappear by 2029 and other significant budget cuts across departments could lead to a 72,000-job loss by the end of the decade.
We are fighting for our pensions, against attacks on terms and conditions, and against arbitrary office-attendance requirements which can cost members hundreds of pounds a month simply to travel to work.
These issues are connected. Cutting jobs means greater workloads for those left behind. Low pay makes recruitment and retention harder. Arbitrary attendance requirements take still more money out of members’ pockets, and attacks on pensions and conditions amount to further attacks on our members.
The cost-of-living crisis isn’t over
The case for our cost-of-living campaign and for action is becoming stronger, not weaker.
The enormous price increases of the last few years have not disappeared simply because the rate of inflation subsequently fell. Those increases have been baked into the cost of food, housing, energy and other everyday costs. Now there are growing signs of renewed inflationary pressure – with energy prices set to increase by 13%, while council tax, water and transport costs have already risen substantially and will further increase along with housing costs. Rising prices will wipe out much, if not all of the value of the government’s pay offer – inflation is currently running at 3.1% (CPI) or 3.4% (RPI) and is certain to further increase.
The international situation makes the outlook still more uncertain. Conflict in the Middle East has already disrupted global energy markets. Higher oil, gas, transport and industrial input costs will result in higher costs for energy, travelling to work and buying everyday goods.
Civil servants do not cause inflation. We do not cause instability in international energy markets. And we should not be expected to pay for them through falling living standards.
Our members are already fighting
Across PCS, members are already showing that where we organise, win mandates and take action, we can fight back.
Existing disputes across the union involve jobs, office closures, restructuring, pay and working conditions.
At the V&A, for example, members delivered an overwhelming mandate, with 95.39% voting for strike action and 97.86% for action short of strike, followed by strike action in September and continuing action short of strike.
Other groups of PCS members have fought over office closures, job cuts and pay, while industrial action has already produced concrete results. At Ofgem, action contributed to securing the establishment of the Warm Homes Agency within the civil service, retaining around 1,000 jobs in the civil service and bringing a further 200 in-house.
A Wider Public Sector Fight
PCS is not alone.
Teachers in the NEU are heading into an industrial action ballot, while UCU members in further education are also being balloted.
Across the public sector the same questions are being posed: who pays for the economic crisis?
Workers face rising living costs, pressure on jobs, understaffed workplaces and deteriorating public services. At the same time, governments and employers continue to insist that pay must be restrained and public spending contained.
There is an alternative.
The millions of workers who run government departments, schools, colleges, hospitals, councils and other public services possess enormous collective power. Where different groups of workers are fighting over the same fundamental issues, the trade union movement should seek the maximum possible coordination of campaigns and industrial action.
A strong Yes vote in PCS, alongside successful ballots elsewhere in the public sector, would strengthen every worker fighting against falling living standards – we will be discussing coordinated action capable of forcing the government to move.
Workers did not create the cost-of-living crisis and we should reject any attempt to make us pay for it.
Levy to go to members
The NEC also agreed that members will be consulted on the question of a levy to fund targeted strike action resulting from the statutory strike ballot (20th October-1st December) and for longer term requirements. The National Disputes Committee will set the dates for membership consultation.
BLN firmly believes that members should have their say on the future of the levy and how we properly resource industrial action. The central issue, however, is ensuring that PCS has the resources necessary to sustain members when we ask them to take targeted strike action.
Prepare to Smash the 50% Threshold
Getting the statutory ballot agreed is only the beginning.
Between now and 20 October, PCS needs to build organising campaigns in every branch: cleaning membership data, recruiting new members and reps, holding workplace meetings and systematically speaking to members about why they need to vote YES.
Once ballot papers land, every part of the union must be focused on beating the legal 50% turnout threshold and delivering the strongest possible “YES” vote. Branches, regions and groups should prepare targeted material aimed at the specific needs of their members. BLN members on the NEC will continue to push for reps to have the resources of the national union thrown behind them.
Prices are rising; jobs are threatened; PCS members are already fighting. Other trade unions are moving towards action.
We must prepare now for the 20th October- 1st December strike ballot and to bring the strength of the whole union into the fight.
PCS Broad Left Network 