It has been a really busy few months for Left Unity members in HMRC group and the R&C Left Unity Steering Committee would like to start by thanking all our members for all the hard work that they have been doing across our branches and regions.
Unacceptable Pay Offer Rejected
Over the summer we were faced with a dismal pay offer from HMRC.
Whilst the offer was clearly constrained by Government’s central pay remit and did not meet our central demands of an inflation proofed increase, the way in which HMRC decided to distribute the money has made things even less equitable.
* HMRC’s distribution of the 4.5/5% fails to give all staff a fully consolidated and pensionable increase in pay of a minimum of the 4.5% by placing a cap of 2% on the max of our pay grades.
* There was no solution offered to progressing staff on the min through the pay scales for band O and above.
* The offer fails to ensure that our lowest paid members at AA and AO grades will be lifted to a salary point that will keep them above the expected increase in the National Living Wage past April 2024.
This is clearly unacceptable.
Left Unity members on the GEC have argued throughout that there are serious systemic issues with the HMRC pay system and that the only way that these can be fixed is through significant investment from central government of both money and resources in the department. The Left Unity led HMRC GEC voted unanimously to reject the offer and to launch a series of consultation meetings with members and branches to inform of why the GEC has rejected the offer and to gather members views on the way forward to the next stage of our campaign.
Consultation with HMRC members
Those meetings with members have been running over the last weeks and have not only been really well attended, engaging thousands of members, but the feedback from these meetings has been really positive.
What is clear from the feedback collated so far is that across our branches, members within the group agree that the offer was unacceptable. There is a very tangible anger amongst ordinary members and in our branches around the way that we are being treated and members are ready to get stuck into the next phase of the National Campaign.
Members have been clear at these meetings that they are ready and eager for further action and have been feeding up large numbers of suggestions around what sort of action will be effective and what areas they believe can be targeted.
There has also been feedback around the Non – Consolidated Cost of Living payment that has already been collated and submitted to HMRC, Cabinet Office and the NEC. This exposes a disturbing and shocking picture of the desperate levels of poverty that some of our members have faced as a result of the way that HMRC decided to implement this payment. Left Unity are clear that the battle on this is far from over and we are doing everything that we can to keep this issue live.
National Consultative Ballot
Another clear piece of feedback that has been raised in every meeting is around the National consultative ballot.
We are really pleased that the group did have above average engagement in the ballot with a group turnout of 54% of our members participating. Over 90% of those that did participate voted to continue the campaign. Getting above 50% in a consultative ballot that was run over the summer holiday period is no easy task and we believe that this again shows the lever of anger within our group as well as the high levels of engagement that have been achieved through the consistently hard work that LU members have put into organising and agitating on the ground.
There has been a lot of feedback that members found the ballot questions confusing that we must recognise, and we will of course be including that message in the submissions that we make to the NEC, however it is still a fact that over 90% of those that voted, voted yes.
It is true as has been raised during the meetings, that we do not know why the 10% of members who voted no did so. It could be that they did not agree with the pause in action and felt we should press on with the re-ballots required in groups, or it could indeed be that some of these voters did not agree that we should be continuing with any campaign at all, we simply do not know. What we do know for certain is that the out turn of the ballot does mirror the overwhelming view that has been expressed during the recent pay meetings, that members are angry and eager to continue the fight.
Our strategy as R&C Left Unity must now be to focus on continuing to build and organise in our branches to be ready for the next phase of the fight.
Ballot for Industrial Action in the Inland Pre Clearance-Hub
There are of course other areas outside of the National Pay Campaign that Left Unity members within our group have been working hard on. There are ongoing battles with HMRC in various areas from cross cutting issues such as HMRC’s approach to Hybrid Working through to more localised business area disputes.
One key local dispute is within the Inland Pre Clearance-Hub (IPC) in Milton Keynes where disagreement over working practices and remuneration is now coming to a head. The GEC team that has been leading this area of work, comprised of AGS John Smith and GEC member Megan Hamblin who have negotiating responsibility for the business area alongside AGS Marianne Owens and Lorna Merry from the Pay Negotiating Team have been working closely together to seek a resolution from HMRC in this dispute however it is now felt that in order to achieve an equitable and fair settlement for IPC members we must now move to ballot.
The ballot for industrial action in this area is due to begin in the coming week. We ask that all left unity members show their solidarity and support with this ballot by publicising the issue within their branches.
General Secretary and Assistant General Secretary Elections
As we are sure all Left Unity members are aware the Gen Sec & Assistant Gen Sec election period is now well underway and one immediate task in front of us as Left Unity is to ensure that all branches are arranging and holding Extraordinary General Meetings in good time to meet the nominations timeline.
Nominations close at 5pm on 16th October which means that to notify members of your branch’s EGM, notice will need to go out from branches by Friday 29th September.
We are asking all Left Unity Members to make sure this week that your branch has organised an EGM and that Left Unity members are nominating the Left Unity candidates, Fran Heathcote for Gen Sec and Paul O’Connor for Assistant Gen Sec.
We do believe that a Socialist Left Unity led union is the best vehicle to further the interests of PCS members, we face continued attacks from a vicious government and in order to protect our members we must be united, therefore it is incumbent upon all of us to ensure that Left Unity are successful in these elections.
Recent Resignation from Left Unity
As the R&C Group Steering Committee we are saddened that there have been recent resignations from Left Unity by R&C members. We are led to believe that these have been caused by perceived issues within the wider LU sphere.
As a group we are regretful that these issues have not been resolved internally within LU or discussed with us as the Steering Committee. Our objective has always been to be democratic and open, encouraging debate and inspiring unity amongst our members and of course upholding socialist principles within the group.
While we may not agree with the reasons given for these resignations, as there are some serious inaccuracies in the detailed reasoning given in statements issued online by those who have resigned, we accept that individuals are free to make decisions based on their own perceptions. We would have welcomed discussion and debate to try to resolve these issues without getting to this stage and we are still of course, as always, open to any discussions in the future. We as the Steering Committee wish our ex- colleagues all the best moving forward in the future.
We will continue with our main objective of building a strong socialist Left Unity presence across R&C group, and the wider union. We believe that this is the best way to defend, protect and make advances for PCS members.
We would encourage any Left Unity members who have any concerns to speak to any member of the Steering Committee so that we can address any issues that our members may have.
PCS Left Unity 