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Marion Lloyd

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From: The Socialist issue 1065, 20 November 2019: Tories out

Search site for keywords: PCS - Marion Lloyd - Mark Serwotka

PCS union: elect Marion Lloyd!

Marion Lloyd, photo Mary Finch, photo Mary Finch (Click to enlarge)

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union general secretary ballot has started and it closes on 12 December. With the pressing issues of low pay, job cuts, office closures and pensions it is vital that the union has a fighting general secretary to champion members' interests.

Socialist Party member Marion Lloyd, with 39 branch nominations, is the best placed candidate to beat the incumbent, Mark Serwotka. A growing number of activists are uniting behind her to make this happen. A few of them, in a personal capacity, explain why.

"Marion Lloyd is committed to delivering a programme of action that puts lay reps, PCS members, and the working class front and centre. I have watched as the senior leadership of PCS become ever more content to let full-time unelected officers take control of union activities over lay reps, often with the result of quashing any dissent or alternative viewpoints - even to the extent that Mark Serwotka backed an full-time offficer against the elected candidate of his own faction for assistant general secretary. Marion as general secretary would be a true servant of the national executive committee and wider union."

Fiona Brittle, PCS national executive committee member

"For Marion the words 'equality is at the heart of everything we do' is not just an empty phrase but core to her work as a trade unionist and a socialist. In her unwavering support for trans rights, when some in our movement are attacking the community, she has shown the personal strength and moral fibre to oppose those would divide, not unite, us."

Saorsa Tweedale, branch chair PCS DWP Bradford

"Marion is one of the most hard-working and dedicated lay activists I have come across. She is the longest serving current group president and has been a constant support to me as we fought two successful campaigns against privatisation.

"Now, having lost two national ballots on pay, we need a fresh look at tactics and campaigning. I believe that Marion provides this, as has been evidenced by her leadership in the latest successful BEIS [the government's business department] dispute.

"Marion can re-energise PCS as a campaigning union that wins for members."

Michael Kavanagh President PCS Land Registry

Meanwhile, some supporters of Mark Serwotka have resorted to personal attacks on Marion and peddling lies about her fighting programme and her record in the union. A reply to these critics can be read at socialistparty.org.uk

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Finance appeal

The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.

The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.

The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.

The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.