DWP Group Elections 2024 Nominate Left Unity candidates

This is the list of Left Unity recommendations for the 2024 DWP Group elections and block-vote elections. These candidates constitute a diverse cross section of dedicated representatives from right across the group.  They are committed to continuing to build a strong workplace focussed, organising group within our union, that can deliver industrially.

The current Left Unity leadership of the GEC is proud of its record on behalf of members, which includes delivering the four largest turnouts in national ballots the group has ever had, preventing hundreds of compulsory redundancies, negotiating two of the largest pay rises for our lowest paid members in decades, and leading the group through the pandemic, negotiating some of the best member-focused policies in the public sector.

A Left Unity-led GEC consulted with branches to highlight areas in DWP that could deliver sustained, targeted paid industrial action during the ongoing national campaign. This action, repeated across other groups and alongside national strike days, won more money for members, including the biggest percentage increase for our AO members many can recall, doubling the remit on offer and preventing a 60% cut to our compensation scheme. This strategy limited the financial burden on our members amidst the financial crisis, and put increased pressure on government and our employer.

The Left Unity leadership of our group have also led the response to the staffing crisis in DWP, taking our campaign direct to government, while leading the call to organise for an industrial response if necessary, and robustly opposing the Jobcentre innovation pilot.

The candidates standing in these elections are committed to working with the national union, and newly elected General Secretary, Fran Heathcote, in devising the strategy for the next phase of the national campaign, one that can win more for members, both now and in the future, while ramping up our own campaign for more staff.

Left Unity has a proud record of winning on equality issues, equality being at the forefront of our bargaining agenda, and continue to negotiate improvements to HR policies, ensuring no member is left behind. 

We will continue the work of the current Left Unity group leadership, in rolling out activist training to build our organising capacity in the workplace, and increase engagement with our members on the key issues that matter to them.

Please nominate all of the candidates listed through your  branch AGM and support them in the group elections that follow. 

Nominate for a leadership that listens to you, will fight on your behalf, and lead from the front on the issues that matter.

Nominate Left Unity!

DWP Group Left Unity Slate 2024 :

President (x1)

Angela Grant  

Vice Presidents (x4)

Martin Cavanagh  

Marie McDonough  

Ian Pope

Mohammed Shafiq 

Assistant Secretaries (x7)

Moe Brasier  

Dave Burke  

Bridget Corcoran

Lorna Kennedy

Jocelyn McFarlane 

Liz McGachey  

Sarah Morton

Organiser (x1) 

Mark Byers  

Editor (x1)

James Meller  

Treasurer (x1)

Linda Edwards 

Group Executive Committee (x17)

Nasrin Ahmed

Ryan Bell

Dave Boucher

Saul Cahill 

Davina Camadoo 

Levoy Getton

Harminder Lothian 

Colin Mack  

Kevin McCafferty 

Lindsay Miles

Sammie Mulcahy

Joe Perry   

Jo Pritchard

Oli Rahman  

Carol Revell  

Tom Westgarth 

Dylan Wilson

Standing Orders Committee (x2)

Mark Edwards 

John Livingstone

Ed Board (x3)

Emily Boucher  

Rachael Watts  

Nicky Wild  

Group Equality Committee (x12)

Grace Bellerby 

Emily Boucher  

Chris Clarke  

Lesley Glendenning 

Sean Green

Jackie Morton

Christine Oliver 

Georgia Stokoe 

Colin Turner  

Lynn Tyler  

Nicky Wild  

Group Women’s Advisory Committee (x12)

Grace Bellerby 

Emily Boucher  

Chris Clarke  

Linda Edwards 

Lesley Glendenning 

Angie Jukes 

Jackie Morton 

Christine Oliver

Viv Perkins 

Georgia Stokoe 

Lynn Tyler   

Nicky Wild

Group Black Members Committee (x6)

Davina Camadoo

Levoy Getton

Sean Harding

Group LGBT+ Committee (x12)

Eirian Anwyn  

Jen Dobison

Sean Harding

Lexie Russell 

Georgia Stokoe 

Colin Turner 

Group YMAC (x12)

Saul Cahill  

Jo Pritchard  

Click here to download flyer

Continuing a winning Strategy for PCS Members!

Attached to this bulletin is the list of Left Unity recommendations for the 2024 NEC elections and conference-based elections. These candidates constitute a diverse cross section of dedicated representatives from right across the union. They are committed to continuing to patiently build a strong workplace focussed, industrially active, organising, members led union.

The current Left Unity led NEC is proud of its record, which includes reconstituting the Young Members Network, constituting devolved nation executives in Scotland and Wales, legal action against pushbacks and the Rwanda scheme, but importantly on the national campaign.

In the last year PCS members have taken hundreds of days of strike action, representing the biggest wave of action undertaken by this union in decades. That’s been achieved by taking tough decisions and the implementation of innovative methods. The Left Unity NEC decision to implement the increased levy wasn’t an easy one and opposed by some at the time. Instead, this decision facilitated the prosecution of sustained, targeted and effective action that was hugely supported by the membership.

The battles we face are serious, our members are struggling, and this Tory administration has facilitated a cost-of-living crisis turbo charged with underfunded pay austerity and cuts to services. This cannot be solved by performative protest action. Our strategy was to maximise the impact on our employer but minimise the cost to members.

What is required is serious, hard-headed industrial trade unionism designed to win. We believe that this has been demonstrated in the last year of the national campaign. Anyone saying that significant gains have not been made, is simply not acknowledging reality – an increased overall remit – targeted at the lowest paid, £1,500 one-off payment, guaranteed no cuts to the compensation scheme, and the start of national talks around coherence.

These are the first national concessions achieved by our union following membership strike action in over a decade. This wasn’t everything that we set out to achieve, we believe our members deserve more, but it is a victory that our members should be proud of, and a base from which to continue to build and push for further action in 2024. Our role must continue to be, to build the confidence and aspirations of our members and to be at the vanguard but not detached from members.

PCS members have recently taken the historic decision to elect our first female General Secretary in Fran Heathcote. We’re proud that she’s been a long-standing Left Unity activist and in these forthcoming elections it’s important to elect fighting candidates who will work alongside her.

We are asking all Left Unity and like-minded members, to nominate the attached slate of candidates. The last year has demonstrated PCS at its best and most vibrant; but the job is not finished. Our candidates are committed to continuing to –

• Increasing membership

• Recruiting and training a new layer of activists

• Fighting the scourge of low pay

• Continuing and extending the use of effective, targeted and sustained action

Nominate Democracy Alliance Candidates for the NEC

Raise the Nominations at your AGM – Nominations Close 7 March 2024

Click here to download