BEC Rejects Pay Offer

Your Branch Executive Committee met on Monday and have decided to agree with the Group Executive Committee and therefore advise you to vote YES to reject the pay offer which has been made. Ballot papers will have started dropping through letterboxes today.

Please read this circular which gives reasons why your committee feels this offer is unacceptable to the workforce as a whole.

Please be careful when you vote to read the ballot question carefully. A YES vote means rejuect the pay offer. A NO vote means to accept.

A Word About Balloting

As previously mentioned PCS will be holding a ballot in order that members can decide for themselves whether to accept the pay offer or not.

It is worth noting that this ballot is a requirement of the Union. Even if the pay offer was the best offer imaginable, your Group Executive Committee is not empowered to decide on a pay offer without putting it to you the members. The ballot is not a delaying or stalling tactic.

Please therefore exercise your vote in order that the decision is truly representative of the membership.

Panic Over Pay Offer

DWP Managers today announced that staff meetings would be held tomorrow morning to discuss the pay offer. This is the first time your BEC can recall that such meetings have been held. Managers were given details of the pay offer and time to digest it before the official announcement was to be made. The information appeared to be embargoed on the Departmental intranet until after the meetings had been held. But then PCS issued this information regarding the pay offer and announcing a ballot in which they would be recommending a "No" vote.

Lo and behold within an hour all the information was put on the intranet with the expected management opinion that the offer was a good one. Presumabaly the meetings will still go ahead tomorrow so it will be interesting to see what message we are given. Your BEC will be meeting next week to discuss the ballot and will provide more information here. As they say watch this space!

Consultation Meetings - August 2007

In line with an agreed motion at this year's conference PCS are currently undergoing consultation meetings countrywide.

These meetings are your opportunity to let a speaker from the National Executive Speaker know how you feel the current campaign is proceeding.

A successful meeting was held in Northampton on July 24th, and two further meetings have been arranged as follows:

Wellingborough BDC on 21/08/07 @ 12:15
Corby Debt Centre on 22/08/07 @ 12:15.

These meetings will last a maximum of fifteen minutes and are to be taken in your own time. They will take place outside the building. Please take every opportunity to attend these meetings and make your voice known; whether it be to tell the Union they are not doing enough, or whether you think the campaign should cease.