On 4 July, PCS members will have the opportunity to rid us of 14 years of Tory misrule which has culminated in some of the most inhumane and right-wing ideologically driven policies that most of us will have experienced in our lifetimes.  Nothing illustrates this more than the Tories desperate attempts to implement its Rwanda deportation policy which the PCS Left Unity leadership together with our members in the Home Office have been central in the resistance to.

Historically, Civil Service Unions were apolitical in outlook accepting that it is the duty of our members to carry out the will of the elected Government of the day no matter how abhorrent particular policies may be.  Under the previous Democracy Alliance (DA) leadership of PCS we campaigned for and won a big majority of membership support for the setting up of a political fund for the Union. A critical factor to the success of that campaign was that this fund would be used for political campaigning on  particular issues of concern to our members such as our anti-fascist, anti-racist campaigning and against the privatisation and contracting out of our jobs and public services. PCS remains independent of any specific party political affiliations or financial donations – a position which Left Unity supports.

The DA leadership also put in place an active PCS Parliamentary Group which has played a significant role in raising issues of concern to our members in Parliament and briefing our Parliamentary representatives which have been instrumental to helping us to win campaigns against Office closures amongst other things but also enabled us, led by Left Unity members, to develop a political alternative to successive Governments public sector cuts policies and put the case for Tax Justice and Welfare Rights in particular which have now been taken up by many Politicians and other campaign groups. The PCS Parliamentary Group is now firmly established and under the stewardship of John McDonnell and subsequently Chris Stephens has carried out sterling work on behalf of PCS members.

This flexible approach to our political strategy has allowed us to assess different sets of circumstances and consider what political representation best serves our members interests at any particular time. It has allowed us to adapt to the different political complexities of our Devolved Nations most particularly faced by our members in Scotland and Northern Ireland. It’s allowed us to articulate support for Jeremy Corbyn, and other MPs who have consistently supported PCS members struggles by visiting our picket lines and speaking up publicly in our support. This also allowed us to advocate support for the Labour manifesto of 2017 and 2019 under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn as it very closely resembled many of our Union’s policies and if it had been given the opportunity to be implemented would have provided a massive transformation and favourable shift in society to the significant benefit of PCS members and the public services we provide. It represented the closest manifesto to the Socialist policies and programme that Left Unity members aspire to.

Both the main two groupings that now form part of the Coalition of Chaos on our NEC argued for fundamentally opposed positions on this important issue. Representatives of the Independent Left argued that it was the right time to throw our weight fully behind affiliation to the Labour Party which would have meant PCS funds being directly used to support only Labour candidates in UK elections as is the case with other Labour affiliated Unions. Their allies in the Coalition, the Broad Left Network (BLN) publicly criticised PCS support for a Corbyn led Labour government arguing for the Union to support a range of different candidates irrespective of their electoral prospects who may support PCS on some issues.

The BLN maintain their support for this position in their latest written material. It is one thing to offer some practical support to sitting MPs such as Corbyn who have a track record of supporting our members in struggle and could use their platform in Parliament to continue with this but the BLN approach also refers to “other candidates” and if implemented would lead to PCS resources being directed to fringe candidates, predominantly those of the Socialist Party front – the  Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC).  TUSC has failed to make any headway on the electoral front often receiving embarrassingly small numbers of votes and even the RMT Union who initially backed the project giving it some degree of Trade Union influence have now withdrawn from it.  With the Coalition partners of the IL and BLN having diametrically opposed positions in relation to this issue it is difficult to see any coherent political strategy for the Union emerging from their NEC majority – only more chaos.

So what should we do for this election and in its aftermath?

We all want to see the back of the Tories and we expect most of our members will vote pragmatically for the candidate best placed in their constituencies to ensure a heavy defeat for them. However, there is also a distinct lack of enthusiasm amongst many for the alternatives on offer. This has enabled reactionary individuals such as Farage and Reform UK to dominate most of the political discourse around this General Election. The likelihood is though that Keir Starmer will be the next Prime Minister and will have a comfortable Parliamentary majority to implement their manifesto.

There are mixed messages emerging from some of Labour’s pronouncements to date. Some of the more extreme Tory policies such as Rwanda and the Minimum Services Bill are likely to be ditched along with much of the culture war agenda that the Tories have promoted.

Other commitments seem less certain. James Murray, Shadow Secretary to the Treasury spoke at HMRC Group ADC this year pledging investment and additional resources to HMRC under a new government which is to be welcomed but at the same time Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves was stating that she wanted to see her Civil Servants back in their offices to deliver this. There has also been some backtracking already on a new bill of rights for workers and Trade Union organisation so there will be much to play for under any new Labour government.

PCS established political strategy under our leadership of the Union of maintaining independence from affiliation to any outside Party allows us to challenge them where it is in the interests of our members to do so. It was an LU/DA NEC that led action against the New Labour governments proposals of 100,000 job cuts in 2004 and onwards and we will have to be prepared for such battles again in the near future once the inevitable honeymoon period for a Starmer led government comes crashing down. Public spending cuts will again bring our members into conflicts with them.          

PCS General Secretary Fran Heathcote has written to Keir Starmer setting out key priorities for PCS from any new Government which will effectively be our new employer.  The nine priorities identified and promoted on the PCS website are Pay, Jobs, Pensions, Hybrid Working, Insourcing, Social Security, Tax Justice, Safe Passage and Tarde Union rights. More details on these, our campaign for a Four Day Working Week and comments on the various Parties election manifestos can be found here                               https://www.pcs.org.uk/campaigns/general-election-2024

Left Unity believe it’s absolutely correct to place demands like these on an incoming government but also to be politically independent from any undue influence of outside political parties. It remains to be seen  how the Coalition of Chaos will respond to the challenges of a new government that many of our members will have voted for to bring an end to the chaos of 14 years of Tory rule.  The flexible and coherent strategy that the previous LU led NEC has developed remains the best way forward.       

PCS Left Unity updated members following the first NEC of the electoral year, with the news that a leading BLN member had stated “you can have the equality committees”, as they moved to take control of virtually every other sub-committee of the NEC. Their small majority on the national body of the union giving them the ability to exercise that control.

This came as no surprise to many Left Unity activists, that have heard similar statements made by leading members of that faction over the years, and who have clearly witnessed and called out the recent weaponising of the equality agenda, by the BLN, for factional gain.

It should therefore come as no surprise, that the latest sectarian manouvre of the BLN/IL/Coalition for Change, has been to reject the long standing NEC protocol of appointing NEC members to the TUC delegation in September. In changing this protocol, they have rejected two leading equality advocates that were elected to the NEC by PCS members, from the TUC delegation, without any attempt to justify their actions.

PCS TUC delegates

In addition to the six delegates elected by block vote ahead of this year’s Annual Conference, PCS also sends to the Trade Union Congress, the General Secretary and National President in rule, plus six elected NEC members.

For many years the six from the NEC has included the Assistant General Secretary (AGS), the four other senior officers (Deputy and Vice Presidents), and one NEC member.

The current national president, Martin Cavanagh, proposed that his practice continued as it has for many years, and recommended, that Angela Grant attend from the NEC on grounds of equality. This recommendation was supported by the only other non-coalition VP, a Democracy Alliance candidate elected as an NEC Vice President, by the members. 

Angela Grant is not only the new DWP President, DWP being the biggest group in our union, but as a black, disabled, woman activist, she is one of the union’s leading voices on equality.  Already removed from the Organising Committee, as both removals are unjustified, it is clear the coalition want to deny her the opportunity to speak on behalf of members.

Shamefully, the proposals put forward by the BLN Vice-President – and supported by both of their partners on the Senior Officers Committee – included six names from their new coalition, with no representative from either Left Unity or the PCS Democrats.

This sectarian move, made with no rationale or justification by the three members of the newly formed coalition, has not only denied a long standing NEC member with three protected characteristics, a place on the delegation without any justification, but also denied Jackie Green, now the longest serving Vice-President of PCS, a strong LGBT+ Woman and well recognised advocate, that has provided a safe space for women and the LGBT+ community, a place at this year’s congress.

It is true that the proposals made by BLN, also excluded their only VP, but there are two points to make here; first, based on that person’s historical criticism of the TUC, this was no great shock, and second, their not wanting to attend due to their disdain for the TUC, allowed their sectarian antics to appear less sectarian.

What is truly shocking though, and we believe it will be to both members and activists within our union, is that a coalition that has a voting majority of three on the NEC, is now so hell-bent on marginalising Left Unity and our Democracy Alliance comrades, that they are prepared to dismiss two leading champions of equality from representing our union at such an important event, and at such a critical time.

Change at what cost?

The so called Coalition for Change, made up of BLN, IL, and independents, had promised to change our union as part of their electoral pact.

What they didn’t say to members though, was the form that change would take.

Remember they have only had a small majority on the NEC for 29 days, and already they have created chaos.

Not content with effectively abandoning the focused national campaign on pay, pensions and job security, by voting down the NEC motion at conference in favour of one that changes the demands of the campaign, they have also voted down the organising strategy, that was designed to help the union grow and win for members, seen 65% of A-marked motions guillotined at this year’s conference by their actions, and now set their sites on destroying any chance of this year’s NEC working collaboratively.  Don’t forget, unity is not for them!

After trying to reduce the President’s powers, and attempting remove the two-thirds rule from Standing Orders at the first NEC, they further oversaw the loss of half of the agenda items at that meeting.  This latest rejection of equality-based principles in favour of sectarianism cannot be the “change” members thought they were voting for, this chaos, lack of unity and lack of concern toward equality needs, is not what members were promised.

If you agree with PCS Left Unity, that recreating a unified programme of action to challenge the new Government and win for our members is the right action to take, if equality is important to you, then please consider joining PCS Left Unity.

We will continue to seek to build unity within our union, and ensure our members interests are the priority in the year ahead, but to do so, it is clear we need more activists and members to put pressure on the new NEC majority, to work with all those elected to leadership positions within our union, and for them to focus on our members ‘ needs, not their desire to gag NEC members, and undermine and bring down the General Secretary and National President that have been chosen by the membership, to lead our union.

To find out more or join PCS Left Unity please visit our website at https://pcsleftunity.org

Members will have seen the previous Left Unity article (click here) reporting on the chaos created at PCS Annual Delegate Conference (ADC) by members of the newly aligned coalition ‘for change’ – a coalition of minorities, small numbers from the Broad Left Network (BLN, the Socialist Party front), the Independent Left (IL, the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty front) and the Alliance for Change (AfC) , that banded together, as it was the only way to scrape a win against Left Unity.  Using non-PCS members to leaflet outside offices while Left Unity reps were busy supporting members inside, using Socialist Party funds to oust Left Unity members from leadership.

Having secured a slim majority on the NEC standing for ”change” it’s worth noting that their Presidential candidate and a number of their elected NEC members want to turn the clock back to some of the failed tactics of the past when they were previously on the NEC.

Left Unity members on the NEC have always sought unity on the key issues affecting members and reps, putting any tactical differences we may have on occasion to one side and concentrating on unifying our members to take forward the PCS agenda determined by our Annual Delegate Conference. This included, as part of the national campaign, the innovative decision to use minimum levels of unpaid industrial action, with unprecedented levels of paid action supported by the levy, which saw us win a pay rise that was more than double the Civil Service pay remit, which was to be imposed at 2%, and forced the Tory Government to withdraw from their manifesto commitment to cut Civil Service compensation payments by 33%. The union for the first time ever, achieving a payment of £1500 for the previous year as a cost-of-living payment, from a rabid right wing Tory Government. 

Our members won that, and those gains are not insignificant no matter the claims of the coalition.

The same can be said of the successful dispute in National Museums Liverpool. It is our strategy of sustained, targeted paid action, and members’ bravery in supporting the action, that has won concessions from the employer which have now been accepted by members in a ballot.

The return of the Socialist Party into positions on the NEC has already seen threats of more ‘militant’ all out action added to their continued call for substantive levels of unpaid action.

In their desperation to beat back your elected Left Unity led NEC of 2023, this coalition gleefully caused so many delays in the conference proceedings that 65% of motions, motions written by branches to set PCS policy, were not heard. This was not due to, as has been claimed, the coalition pressing for democracy, but due to numerous speakers levelling a barrage of attacks and unfounded allegations at the outgoing NEC. Coalition acolytes calling on conference to vote for anything but the motions moved by the NEC, leaving PCS now without a unified national pay campaign, and without an organising strategy for the year ahead. Such petty and irresponsible behaviour belongs in the schoolyard, not on a conference platform, and not at the NEC.

Just as they jettisoned the motions at conference, the same behaviours to delay proceedings have already spilled over into the NEC where we have now seen items of importance on the agenda not debated. 

No Unity Required Here!

Back to square one with a stagnant campaign, as per the returned members of the Socialist Party’s record on the NEC, but a new move introduced was the argument against the NEC building unity.

It is expected that there will be debate amongst reps on committees, often robust and even heated at times, but once a consensus is reached members expect a degree of unity from their union leadership.  Do they not? Extremely concerning then to have heard the BLN state quite proudly that there is no expectation for a union to work in unity – crowing in their arrogance at winning a small majority on the NEC, the BLN now claim that ‘unity’ is the language of the outgoing NEC, unity has been ‘rejected’ by members, along with the national campaign strategy. 

Left Unity do not believe that this is the ‘change’ members voted for, members do not want to see a divided union, which is why every member of Left Unity has committed to fixing the divisions within PCS, no matter how difficult BLN seek to make it happen. It is clear to Left Unity that the BLN is actually out of touch with the membership and had they put their real intentions of ‘no unity’ and ‘higher levels of unpaid strike action’ into their election addresses, it would be a surprise if they won any seats at all, let alone a small majority.

Nor do Left Unity believe that members have rejected the national campaign that saw us win gains for the first time in decades. The BLN are as out of touch with PCS members as they are with the rules of the union and the protocols that allow meetings to progress.  Debate is good, and of course all’s fair in love and politics, but to put factional demands above the needs of our members is not acceptable, and to see the pantomime that began at ADC spill over into Tuesday’s NEC meeting was not at all entertaining, and extremely concerning for the future of our union.

Shocked.  Not Shocked.

Before the NEC was even underway, the National President was challenged via a point of order raised by the BLN – not for breaching the unions rules, but shock of all shocks, for beginning the meeting with the standing orders from the previous year, as happens at every meeting, at the beginning of every year.  Until the new standing orders are agreed by the new committee, as is the correct democratic process, the only option available is to begin with the rules that are already in place.  This point of order saw the elected President leave the Chair as his ruling was challenged.  The challenge was not upheld by two thirds of the Committee, so the President’s decision stood.  Pointless point of order, time wasted, but sectarian is what sectarian does, and that set the scene for the remainder of the meeting.

The new standing orders presented by the President were then challenged, not by amendments as would normally be the case if there was disagreement, but by a motion that called to ‘delete all’ of the President’s paper and replace it with a set of standing orders moved by the BLN.  Both were heard and neither reached the two thirds majority required to agree the new standing orders.  The meeting was left with no rules to work with, and the President was forced to adjourn. 

Serious matters to deal with, but such was the sectarianism on display that the need to ‘delete all’ took precedence over voting for the standing orders that – wait for it – in the main have been in place for decades, that were certainly in place whilst those attempting to ‘delete all’ were previously on the NEC.  Never before have they called to ‘delete all’ of the standing orders so why now?

This was no more than an opportunist attempt by a Party that has built a coalition from factions with minority numbers, to capitalise on their simple majority by removing the two thirds rule from the standing orders.  The two thirds rule is an important way of ensuring checks and balances, it is a constant across the Trade Union movement to ensure that no one faction can overtake the committee or put undemocratic practices in place.  But this coalition was making a clear attempt to remove the two thirds ruling to give their miniscule majority the right to override the President’s decisions, remove the powers of the elected president and put it into the hands of the committee that they believe they hold.  Not since the days of the old right-wing in CPSA and the early years of PCS has it been known that a PCS elected President, elected by members to make decisions on their behalf, should have their ability to preside removed by a faction.  A Party that tried and tried again to win the Presidency of PCS and the General Secretary position, that did not win those positions moving to undermine the authority and responsibility of the PCS National President and the General Secretary is not a left-wing strategy, it is a clear return to the behaviour and actions of the old right wing as they refused to acknowledge Mark Serwotka as the GS; the BLN now launching their own little coup to overthrow the elected PCS President at the very first opportunity.  So bitter are they that members have voted for Left Unity candidates to lead PCS, wanting to keep safe hands on the PCS helm.

The NEC reconvened, the vote was taken again, and all but three members of the coalition, their having caused chaos and already wasted two hours, agreed the President’s paper.

A Simple Majority Takes the NEC Committees

The President again moved his recommendations for the NEC sub committees and equality fora, and the BLN again rejected the paper using their tiny majority to continue their sectarian attacks.

In a move that has never been seen before, the National President was removed from the Organising and Education Committee, to be replaced by a candidate that only won a position on the NEC by three votes.  Not only was the national president replaced, but in yet a further sectarian attack, the DWP Group President was removed from the Organising and Education Committee, and not even replaced. They did not even hide their vitriol in this case.  Removing the National President and the President of the biggest Group in the union from one of the most important committees of the NEC, when it is imperative we build a strong union in the face of an incoming government, with no rhyme, reason, or explanation, just because they want to, is tantamount to a small child taking their toys back.

Probably the most interesting statement of all in the move to take the committees was that they are “not bothered” about equality.” The Socialist Party have long said they ‘don’t do equality’, cementing Left Unity’s argument that they only shout about it at conferences to win the votes that they would otherwise, never win.  The change members are now seeing is no equality, no unity, and the BLN using bureaucracy to give the socialist Party power over PCS members. 

This is what Left Unity have been working to defend PCS members from. The statement that every vote will count, has never been more clearly evidenced. 

Faction by faction, Left Unity still holds the majority number on the NEC; the BLN, the Independent Left, and the Alliance for Change would be nowhere near the NEC if they had stood alone.  They have had to hold their noses and join together, with their opposing policies, just to win a small majority.  Bit embarrassing really but Left Unity would argue, this is an extremely serious concern for our members for decisions made in the year ahead; and why it is important that the union holds onto the two thirds rule.

The NEC continued, the BLN tried to impose a general election strategy that would force branches to support candidates who “support at least some PCS policies” regardless of whether the members agree, or if they are from the Far Right; they sought to allow NEC members to attend any union meetings, wherever they like, merely advising the President to enable their expenses claims, then a BLN member moving to stifle debate, moving a motion of order to stop elected members of the NEC speaking in a debate. This call came after the coalition speakers had been called in and three Left Unity members were waiting to speak. This blatant sectarianism has not been seen or heard of at an NEC for decades.  Attempting to gag the opposition, afraid of a bit of a challenge, that’s democracy in the world of the coalition.

They flexed their muscles throughout the meeting, drunk on the power brought to them by their miniscule majority, they again filibustered the important work that was on the agenda, calling for standing orders to be suspended so the meeting could run over time.  Again, having been told by the president that NEC members had meetings to attend so the meeting would not be quorate, they pressed to continue.  At what price democracy?

Shocked?  Not shocked. This is a clear example of how the Socialist Party works, how the Independent Left, as evidenced by the lack of reporting on that faction, despite receiving the highest votes, are the poor relations within the coalition, and how the Alliance for Change representative is no more than a hand to be raised to vote for the Socialist Party.

Members should be aware that your vote counts.  Vote for unity.  Vote for representatives that will work together and support each other, vote for those that are willing to work with other factions for the betterment of our union, that will make the right decisions when push comes to shove.

Conference delegates have already commended our National President on his fair hand and balanced judgement at ADC. Members know that under his leadership the democracy of PCS is in safe hands, no matter the spin coming from the BLN.

Please consider joining Left Unity to ensure we keep PCS on an even keel.  But more importantly, if you want a union that is not tied to any outside organisation, that works for you as a PCS member, be sure, next time the call comes, that you vote Left Unity!