Socialist Party members in PCS
Across UK civil service departments, agencies and arm’s-length bodies, pay negotiations are mostly now under way between the employers and the PCS union.
Early news indicates a mixed picture. Some areas, for example, the Department for Education, are securing a £15-per-hour wage minimum for many grades. In some areas, such as DWP and HMRC, we expect that a trade-off will be demanded by the employer, sacrificing some pay for more senior grades. In some departments, higher figures will be achieved by non-consolidated awards that do not contribute to pensionable salary.
This is due to the Labour government’s civil service pay remit, which limits the average rise in pay to 5%. It is a trade-off that socialists in PCS oppose.
When the 5% pay remit was published in July of this year, the elected majority of the National Executive Committee (NEC) called for further talks with the Cabinet Office.
5% goes nowhere near compensating for the real pay lost by civil servants over years of austerity and high inflation; and it will be funded by department cuts. Labour’s chancellor Rachel Reeves called for “administrative savings”, i.e. cuts, of 2%.
PCS president vetoes debate
But each time the elected majority of the NEC has attempted to bring proposals for a serious campaign to the NEC meetings, these proposals have been vetoed by the national president.
Socialist Party members and other Broad Left Network (BLN) supporters on the NEC, along with others from the elected majority, have been blocked from attending any discussions with the Cabinet Office by the president and general secretary.
BLN supporters have been elected to pay teams in different departments, however. We have put forward what was agreed at the PCS annual conference, including a 10% pay rise for all grades, a clear roadmap to pay restoration, and a minimum of £15 per hour for all staff. We have also sought guarantees against compulsory redundancy, and much more.
Negotiators can make the most of the pay remit as it exists – but for major gains for members, we need a serious national campaign.
We argue for every department and agency to reject the pay offer from their employer. Rejection of offers of approximately 5% – which the employers will impose, meaning money still goes into members’ pockets immediately – would set the stage for reps across PCS to come together to prepare a campaign. But the obstructive attitude of the president and general secretary is a barrier to this.
Call a Special Delegate Conference
Under the union’s rules, a special delegate conference (SDC) of the union may be called by a written application from branches representing 25% of the union’s membership. An SDC would bring together all of the branches to debate what needs to be done and once again make clear the wishes of the reps and members.
BLN supporters have been hard at work to call Extraordinary General Meetings in the PCS branches, to involve members in the process of calling an SDC. Where possible, we are connecting this to discussing pay. Members need to be left in no doubt that their union has not given up the fight.
- For more explanation about the role of the PCS general secretary and president, blocking efforts of the elected NEC majority to put forward a fighting strategy, see PCS majority strives for a fighting strategy against general secretary and president blockage at socialistparty.org.uk
