As we go to press, the conference is taking place of the Public and Commercial Services union, PCS, which organises in government departments, agencies and contractors. Group conferences have also taken place.
In the last issue of the Socialist, we reported on a historic step forward in the National Executive Committee (NEC) elections in PCS, in which the misnamed ‘Left Unity’-led leadership lost its overwhelming majority to a coalition of candidates standing for change. That includes the election of Socialist Party member Dave Semple as vice president and Marion Lloyd to the NEC. Read more: ‘PCS: historic left victory at critical moment’ at socialistparty.org.uk.
Since then, the results of the group executive elections have been published, and of the national strike ballot on pay that ran at the same time.
Group elections
Candidates for change, including BLN supporters and three Socialist Party members, won 24 of the 31 positions on the HMRC Group Executive Committee (GEC), including every officer position they stood for.
Socialist Party members were also elected to the Home Office and Department for Education groups.
Unfortunately, in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), while two Socialist Party members were re-elected to the GEC, Left Unity maintained their majority for now.
HMRC group conference: A tone of fightback
Jon-Paul Rosser, HMRC GEC, personal capacity
HMRC group conference took place just after the ‘Left Unity’ group leadership had been ousted in the elections. Activists and reps voted for change against a leadership that squandered the national campaign and blocked the launch of an effective fightback.
Conference began with a Broad Left Network (BLN) motion on office attendance, which proposed a wide-ranging campaign incorporating legal action, strike action and action short of a strike. Another BLN motion set an ambitious policy of jobholders being given the autonomy to decide how frequently they come into the office. These motions were supported and set a tone of fightback in HMRC.
The pay, terms and conditions section was headed by a BLN motion on the delayed publication of the government pay remit. Again conference agreed a raft of tactics to challenge this, as part of the national campaign on pay, pensions and jobs. Unfortunately, a second BLN motion to incorporate action short of a strike was moved by the National President onto the national agenda.
The equality section of the agenda provided a contentious moment when two motions highlighted the lack of people standing for the equality committee posts. Although the issue is real, Left Unity supporters placed the blame on the Group Executive (GEC) equality lead. This is Hector Wesley, who just won the Group President role as a candidate for change. This blatantly sectarian attack was called out by some delegates, although both motions were given critical support.
The only heated debate was a rule change proposed by the GEC, to increase the size of the GEC to allow for Valuation Office Agency (VOA) members to have reserved seats. This was supported by VOA branches, but the vote was lost. An organising motion was passed for a holistic review of the group structures, allowing all branches to provide input to rule changes that can be supported at conference 2025.
There were motions on many other subjects showing the variety of issues faced by members. The promise of change by the newly elected GEC will be tested very quickly. Socialist Party members and the BLN will be working to deliver for members.
DWP group conference: Again no clear lead from the top
Socialist Party member in DWP
Following the group elections, in which, unfortunately, Left Unity supporters maintained their majority on the executive (GEC), DWP group conference opened to a subdued mood. Only about 30,000 of around 40,000 members were represented by branch delegates.
The focus of conference was on the attacks on DWP staff and claimants, and how we move forward in the national campaign given that DWP turnout in the strike ballot fell short of the 50% required by the anti-trade union laws.
We agree that this should be the focus – our disagreement is on how we move forward. The GEC motion, which passed, calls for branches to submit their action plans for discussion at the Organising Sub-Committee, and to include the national campaign as a standing agenda item in every branch committee.
A significant reason that we did not get the ballot turnout was the total lack of preparation. After a ten-month ‘pause’, reps started the ballot with literally days to prepare and with no agitational materials in their hands. Now we go away from DWP conference again with no plan to lay the ground for a reballot.
Significant debates took place around control by and support to branches. A censure motion against the GEC for not taking action on last year’s conference decisions came very close on a hand vote but lost on a card vote.
The same happened with a call to give reps the material to train more reps, rather than waiting (sometimes months) for GEC-organised training courses.
Reps want a plan to win, and the support and tools to do their jobs – a significant number are realising that this is not the leadership that will deliver that.
PCS strike ballot results
Socialist Party members in PCS wrote in their conference bulletin:
The PCS national pay strike ballot, affecting 171 employers, closed on 13 May, just days before PCS conference. This ballot was launched in March by the outgoing Left Unity-led leadership, without the necessary preparation amongst reps and members, and after ten months of complete inactivity.
Unfortunately, this failed approach, despite the fantastic work done by reps and members, was reflected in the ballot results. Only a small minority of groups and members have a mandate for action.
The results of the vote were not available until 15 May, when dozens of branch meetings to prepare for the conference had already taken place, meaning opportunities for emergency motions were lost.
Socialist Party members across PCS campaigned hard for a ‘yes’ vote in the strike ballot. We hoped that across the board the result would have been over the 50% threshold imposed by the 2016 anti-Trade Union Act.
Yet the impact of Left Unity’s lack of leadership is clear: the mishandling of the 2022-23 campaign; the ten months of inactivity from June to March; and the utter disorganisation with which the current ballot was launched – including not a single leaflet being ready for the first week of the ballot.
There needs to be a serious debate at conference about the next steps. Given the turnouts of 40-45% in big groups such as DWP and HMRC, there is a case to organise a reballot of those that missed the threshold. But this must be properly prepared for, with workplace meetings, and tying in the successful groups with a plan of action during this period.
STOP PRESS: PCS conference defeats outgoing leadership, and passes fighting strategy
PCS Annual Delegate Conference opened on 21 May. Solemn faces from the leadership abounded, after their defeat in the national executive (NEC) elections.
In moving the annual report, general secretary Fran Heathcote did not lift the mood or instil a fighting spirit, as delegates assembled after a hard-fought national strike ballot where most areas did not get over the Tory anti-union threshold of 50%. This was due to poor leadership and poorer organisation by the ‘Left Unity’ leadership of the union.
An early battle overturned a decision by the leadership-dominated Standing Orders Committee, which arranges the conference agenda. Conference threw out the leadership’s claim that they won an increase in the 2023 civil service pay award from 2% to 4.5%.
After this, the major set piece debate of the conference began: on pay, jobs, pensions and building a national campaign.
Socialist Party member Craig Worswick, from PCS Home Office group, moved the motion agreed by the Broad Left Network. He called for a serious campaign on the dozens of issues facing civil servants: minimum wage pay, 72,000 job cuts and major pension cuts, workloads, office closures and denial of flexible hybrid-working.
A tense debate followed. Recent left candidate for PCS president and Socialist Party member Marion Lloyd clearly moved the conference hall by contrasting the failed strategy of the defeated NEC with the new approach promised by the newly elected NEC, which takes up post from 23 May. Cheers rang out around the hall.
Conference decisively threw out the PCS Left Unity motion, which had the full weight of the union’s outgoing NEC behind it. It then passed the BLN motion. The clear task is now in front of the incoming new leadership to get out and build a serious campaign.