PCS members voted for change in the NEC elections: This is being blocked
Broad Left Network report on the PCS NEC of 17-18 July
Since taking office in May 2024, the new PCS left majority on the union’s National Executive Committee (NEC) has had several priorities. These are based on the issues they campaigned on in the elections, which led to them winning 19 seats on the 35-seat NEC, defeating the former majority led by the ‘Left Unity’ (LU) grouping. The NEC majority is a coalition, including the PCS Broad Left Network (BLN), in which the Socialist Party participates.
A strong national campaign. A political strategy that puts members’ needs first. A union that is run by the elected NEC and by lay reps at all levels, instead of being run by the general secretary’s team of unelected officials.
Business vetoed
The third meeting of the NEC since it was elected was on 17-18 July. For the third time, the majority of business put forward by the NEC majority was vetoed by the president. This ranged from motions on vital issues such as the union’s national campaign, to less important items such as which conference motions get assigned to which committees of the NEC. This veto meant that motions could not be moved, debated or voted on.
This approach was doubled down on by the president in a published statement on 17 July, setting “appropriate boundaries” for how NEC business was to be conducted. This complained of the amount of email correspondence from NEC members, as the newly elected left coalition tries to rein in the undemocratic behaviour of the general secretary.
Every lay rep and member, over the next ten months, is going to face the question: who runs PCS and in whose interests? Presently, it is not the elected NEC, it is the union’s machine, under the direction of the general secretary, propped up by the national president. They obstruct and challenge our right to progress our union’s policies.
National campaign
At every NEC meeting, LU members have derided the vote of PCS Annual Delegate Conference to throw out the national campaign strategy of the ex-leadership, and to adopt a new approach. This NEC was no different, as the president and others attacked the new approach as a ‘two-tier’ campaign.
The NEC majority proposes that we should be ready and willing to call action amongst the 20,000 members with a mandate, as we lay the groundwork to reballot the 100,000 who missed a strike mandate in the ballot up to May 2024. This reballot would be on the basis of the demands agreed at conference, meaning that we could connect it to issues facing members every day, such as hybrid working.
Pay remit talks have begun with the Cabinet Office, and by the end of July we will likely know where we are, including whether any new money is on the table or if pay awards will need to be found from within existing, already tight, departmental budgets. Additionally, the deadline we have set for a response from the prime minister will have expired.
The motion proposed by BLN and backed up by the rest of the left coalition proposed a series of steps, including engagement with lay reps across the union to discuss strategy, to ready us for a special NEC on 13 August, with the intention of firming up timetables and potentially to call the first strike action.
This was thrown off the 17-18 July agenda by the president.
The previous motion, passed on 10 July, called for joint working with the other trade unions. The Labour government is rapidly going to be faced with demands on pay from teachers, local government, the NHS and others.
Nationalisation of water, of Royal Mail, of Port Talbot steelworks are also posed.
The president and general secretary have not been able to sweep the 10 July motion away entirely. Consultation will proceed with lay reps, on a less widespread basis, and consideration of targets for selective, paid strike action will also proceed.
Finance and organising
The general secretary, without reference to the NEC or any elected body of the union, has put in place a new staffing structure. This includes promotions and pay rises for her two key lieutenants, unelected officials. The general secretary has also been recruiting new staff externally. All of these things incur a cost in terms of staffing budgets within PCS, and pension liabilities.
BLN supporters take the union’s finances very seriously, as does the union’s national treasurer, assistant general secretary (AGS) John Moloney, who donates tens of thousands of pounds of his wages back to the union each year.
After discussion with the finance committee chair, John attempted to put a paper to the NEC, raising concerns. The general secretary blocked the paper being issued to the NEC. Further, the national president and general secretary each asserted that the elected AGS was obliged to clear all his papers via the general secretary’s office, as a “contractual requirement”. This is untrue. The AGS is directly elected by PCS members and is responsible to the NEC, as is the general secretary.
The NEC majority’s organising motion was discussed and agreed. The way is now open to consider all those concerns voiced by reps about the blind spots of the previous strategy.
For other financial and staffing concerns, and other important issues that were vetoed by the president, see bln.org.uk for a fuller report.
Join us in transforming PCS
It could not be clearer that the general secretary and president are attempting to intimidate the NEC majority from putting in motions and amendments. We reject this approach. Whether the general secretary likes it or not, the NEC majority was elected on a clear programme to build a serious national campaign, and to re-establish lay democracy and accountability to the lay leadership of PCS. We intend to carry this through.
We will continue to report on events to the activist layer across the union, and call on every activist to help campaign for the policies and strategies voted for by the members. We encourage branches to invite BLN NEC members to speak. Help us build a union led by the elected leadership, and accountable to branches and groups.
BLN brings together activists from many political traditions, united in the belief that we need a fighting, democratic PCS with socialist policies. We urge every activist and lay rep in PCS to join BLN to help us rebuild PCS.
- Since this report of the NEC was written, the new Labour government has proposed a pay remit of 5%, alongside £3 billion ‘savings’ to be made by government departments to fund public sector pay rises
