Author: pcsbln

Marion Lloyd: Statement on Standing for General Secretary

Left Unity Candidate

Left Unity is holding an election to decide our General Secretary candidate. I am putting my name forward with the support of the Broad Left Network – a newly formed group within Left Unity.

Please attend your local LU group meeting and nominate me.

About Me

I have been active in the union for more than thirty years and helped build the left. I have represented members at all levels of our union – locally and nationally. I am currently a member of the PCS National Executive Committee. 

I have worked in Government Departments including the Ministry of Defence, both Employment and Social Security (now DWP), the private sector and now latterly in BEIS (Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy)- where I am the Group President.

I have a huge amount of experience as a negotiator. I have led many successful disputes including, most recently, strike action to prevent the closure of the Sheffield BIS office and protect jobs. 

I have been a member of PCS Left Unity/CPSA Broad Left, all my working life.  I am a socialist and a member of the Socialist Party.

Left Unity – Change is Needed

I am appalled at the way the Socialist View/SWP majority on the Left Unity National Committee has completely undermined the basic traditions of Left Unity as an open, inclusive and democratic organisation. Members are attacked for holding and expressing views that are different to theirs. Support for non-LU candidates against official LU candidates is tolerated and even encouraged. 

This cannot go on. Change is necessary to reclaim Left Unity as a broad based, open organisation where debate is encouraged and where the official candidates elected in a fair election by LU members are fully supported. 

PCS is a Great Union – We Can Do Better

I am proud to be a member of PCS but am concerned at the way in which control and decision making has become increasingly top down and centralised. We need to reassert elected lay control at all levels over all major decisions affecting us. 

I know that our union and members have been singled out by successive governments. This had had a huge impact on us with membership nearly halved and wage cuts in real terms by about 20% There is a disconnect between organisation/recruitment and the bargaining agenda and the needs of our members. This has to be put right. We must grow the union and its strength; linking bargaining with campaigning and organising, in my experience is vital to grow our union and therefore our strength.

An Independent Political Voice

I believe we need a strong political voice. This should be expressed currently by supporting the Corbyn leadership and anti-austerity agenda. But we must remain politically independent and put the needs of our members and our policies first.

Equality in Practise

I am totally committed to an equality agenda which puts equality truly at the centre of our bargaining agenda and also proactively campaigns for the rights of all our members – women, black, LGBTQ+ and disabled members. It is not enough to adopt a top down approach to equality, for example through the appointment/election of women to positions at the top of the union- though the record here should be much better. Only 30% of the delegates to the 2019 annual delegate conference were women, it’s at this level that urgent change is required ensuring equal representation of all members – the barriers in the way of this need to be identified and removed. 

My Pledge

I will be issuing more detailed explanations of what I stand for – some of which can be found on the BLN website. But I want to conclude this launch statement with a promise. “I will seek no material gain from being elected General Secretary. I will take no more than my current wages, the rest I will give back to the union.” 

Marion Lloyd: BLN Candidate for General Secretary

Left Unity is holding elections to decide who its General Secretary candidate should be – the Broad Left Network has agreed to support Marion Lloyd and urges Left Unity members to nominate Marion at your forthcoming LU branch nomination meetings.

PCS members have been singled out by successive governments, leading to a significant reduction in union membership and members facing real-terms pay cuts of around 20% over the last decade. There is major disconnect between organising & recruitment and PCS’ bargaining agenda. This has to be fixed and requires a new strategy.

Marion has been active in PCS for forty years and has made major contributions to both PCS successes and the growth of the left, having been a member of Left Unity (and the Broad Left prior to LU’s formation) all of her working life. She’s represented members from local to national level, currently serving as both a member of the NEC and the BEIS Group President. Marion has a wealth of experience and has used this to lead many successful disputes, including most recently leading strike action to prevent the closure of the Sheffield BEIS office.

Marion’s record as a union activist is undisputable and as a socialist and member of the Socialist Party, Marion is dedicated to campaigning for the changes PCS requires to defeat the government’s anti-union agenda. This includes the following aims…

  • A grassroots equality agenda – PCS needs to fight for BAME, Disabled, LGBT & Women members’ rights throughout the union. PCS currently has a top-down approach to equality – we need to identify and remove barriers so that Equalities Strands are fully represented within every tier of the union, addressing problems such as women constituting only 30% of delegates to conference and the shameful discrimination still faced by transgender activists from some activists on the left
  • Empowerment of lay activists – PCS can only be successful if activists are given the support and confidence to build the union from the ground up. Local activists understand the issues facing members better than anyone and should be front & centre in developing PCS’ bargaining agenda. The run-up to the recent pay ballot saw a huge number of activists’ views ignored which led to a failure to meet the ballot threshold and left conference split down the middle at a time when solidarity is vital
  • A safe space for democratic debate – personal attacks against activists expressing their views has to stop. In doing this, PCS needs to reverse the trend towards the top-down centralisation that has dominated decision making over the last year. Democratic decisions should be respected, but only when activists have the confidence to put forward their views without fear of recrimination
  • A strong political voice – PCS members will benefit from a Corbyn-led government delivering an anti-austerity agenda, however in supporting this it is vital that PCS retains its political independence

In addition to campaigning for these aims, Marion has made a personal promise that should she be elected as General Secretary, she will seek no material gain from the position and only take her current wages. Marion will give anything over and above this back to PCS.

BLN is delighted to not only have a candidate of Marion’s calibre standing in the LU election process, but also, to have a candidate who is dedicated to campaigning for a programme which will enshrine democracy, equality and socialism at the heart of PCS and LU. Please support our campaign and nominate Marion to be Left Unity’s candidate for PCS General Secretary.

Broad Left Network Launch Statement

The Broad Left Network is a campaign for a fighting, democratic union. Our supporters include members of several political parties and independents. We are all Socialists and support PCS Left Unity.

The election campaign for the Assistant General Secretary of PCS raised issues that remain central to the future of our union. The majority of the Left Unity National Committee failed to actively campaign for the election of the candidate chosen by the Left Unity members. Some even campaigned for a candidate who was not in LU. This led to the loss of the election and a victory for a political opponent. We cannot rely on these LUNC members to respect the decision of Left Unity members in the General Secretary election if their preferred candidate is not successful.

We stand for:

INCREASED DEMOCRACY AND ACCOUNTABILITY: A RETURN TO LAY CONTROL

  • A campaign to restore lay democracy and control and to strengthen the democratic accountability of the union to its lay structures. A campaign to turn back the increased top down HQ control in favour of lay control. A campaign to extend accountability through periodic election of FTOs. Senior FTOs should be on wages more closely linked to our members.
  • A campaign to restore Left Unity as an open, democratic, fighting rank and file organisation – one which will hold the leadership to account; where differences on issues can be held and expressed; where members unify around and actively support agreed election candidates.

Bargaining / Campaigns

  • For a national campaign to defend jobs, pay, conditions and services. Co-ordinating action and campaigns on issues such as pensions, compensation scheme, jobs and office closures.
  • For organising and fighting for PCS recognition across all private companies delivering work that should be done by permanent Civil Servants, including HR and facilities management. To include a decent living wage, decent conditions and working environment. A campaign to bring back into public ownership privatised and contracted out work.
  • For a return to national bargaining across the Civil Service.
  • For effective FTO support for Groups and Employer bargaining units.

Equality

  • For an equality strategy that puts equality into practice, such as fighting for decent affordable childcare provision, parental leave and workplace nurseries, and flexible working.
  • For fair and equality proofed pay and personnel systems as a step towards removing barriers in the workplace and encourage participation at all levels of the union.
  • For an equality agenda that pro-actively fights for the rights of all our members including Women, Black, LGBTQ+ and Disabled members.
  • To ensure that the tone and attitude in discussion and debate across the union is conducted in a comradely manner and encourage everyone to have their say.

Political strategy

  • For an independent political voice for PCS.
  • For working collectively with politicians and campaigns who support the policies of PCS. For PCS to independently defend the interests of PCS members whoever is in Government.
  • For a Jeremy Corbyn led government that increases pay, stops the cuts and office closures, restores national bargaining, renationalises privatised services, introduces better rights at works, scraps and replaces Universal Credit with a fair social security system.

The Broad Left Network aims to build support for these ideas and to campaign for candidates who share these views. If you support these aims and want to get involved then please contact us at…

pcsblnetwork@gmail.com

Welcome To the PCS BLN Website

Welcome to the PCS Broad Left Network blog and website. More to follow – but we will provide regular updates about our campaign as it progresses. Thanks.