The National Campaign - What Next?

Now that consultation meetings have been held all over the country, the NEC need to take stock of what the members have told them.

The vast number of people who attended the meetings are fully behind the campaign and feel that PCS need to continue their action to fight against compulsory redundancies, to fight for fair pay rises, to stop outsourcing and privatization, to fight against cuts in the civil service compensation scheme and to fight against other attacks on our terms and conditions.

Although the last ballot for industrial action was for discontinuous action, which means that legally more strikes can happen at any time; the NEC has promised to issue a consultative, indicative ballot before any further national action is called.

Your ballot paper should arrive by the first week of October, and more information on the ballot and the campaign can be found here.

Pay Ballot Result In

Members have voted convincingly in favour of rejecting the pay offer put to them by DWP management. More information can be found here, but in short 75.7% voted to reject the offer. The turnout was 44% which although low was better than a lot of recent ballots. The Group Executive Committee will be meeting next week, and have already demanded an urgent meeting with management to discuss the way forward.

Your Branch Executive Committee think this is a sensible outcome as other posts demonstrate. There is no way that we can allow our members to receive such derisory rises over the next three years, especially those on the band maxima who have given many years of service to the employer.

Some Truths About The Pay Offer

One thing the pay offer has addressed is the short time it takes to reach the maximum scale rate for your grade. Some members have reported that they have been in the Department for over thirty years yet are still not on the max. These members will reach the max during the three years of this deal if it is accepted, but is it really worth it?

Evidence shows that at the end of the three year deal max in DWP will be less than it is in HMRC now. Are we really worth so much less than our colleagues on other departments?

And what pleasure will you have when you have reached the max and then realise that your pay rise in future years is vastly below inflation? This circular gets it right when it says "There is no point progressing to the max when the max is being artificially held down and devalued." Let's face it. Management say this is a listening offer but who have they really listened to? They appear only to have listened to people who like to spin a story to make it sound better than it is. Let's send them a resounding message that they will have to listen to and vote YES to support the GEC recommendation to REJECT the pay offer, because together we can win fair pay for all.

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.

Ralph Baxter MBE Retires

After forty three years as a civil servant and trade union activist, Ralph Baxter has retired. Ralph was awarded the MBE in the recent Birthday Honours for his work in the Department of Work and Pensions and its predecessor organisations, but it is as a determined and effective trade union Representative that most people will remember him.

Ralph has held most posts at branch and regional level, including Branch Secretary, Branch Chair, Regional Treasurer and District Health and Safety Chair. As befits a retired rugby player, he has a reputation of someone who is not afraid of a battle, as most managers in Northamptonshire will agree. However Ralph's aim has always been to obtain the best deal for the members and he proved to be a skillful negotiator.