PCS members in DWP have reacted with disappointment and anger at the pay offer announced on Monday 14th October.

DWP has firmly established itself as a minimum wage employer, with the AA and AO grades both qualifying for the National Living Wage uplift in April for the last two years. Following the publication of the first Treasury remit in decades that sees an average figure above inflation, there was some hope at least that this year’s award would see the lowest paid given an above average pay rise, as has been the case in the other departments, such as Home Office and HMRC. Sadly, DWP have squandered the opportunity to do more for their lowest paid workers, and has instead given a larger percentage increase to members near the minimum of the SEO and G7 pay scales.

This, despite soundings from the Cabinet Office that the Civil Service should not be a minimum wage employer, and the remit guidance allowing departments to submit a business case to address chronic low pay issues.  DWP refused to agree PCS continued calls for a business case to be submitted.

What the offer means for our members

Despite the efforts of the group negotiators, who managed to force DWP to move some way from their original position of below 5% awards for AA-HEO, no consolidated increase for all legacy staff, and 9.45% for those SEO & G7 staff who now have 6%, this award still represents a real kick in the teeth for the vast majority of DWP staff, the overwhelming majority of whom are in the AO and EO grades.

Once again, if forecasts are accurate, all AA and AOs on the national scale will require the NLW uplift next April, members refuse to accept this this, and can see through the “sweetener” that is the bonus pot being weighted towards them, and ‘put in their pockets for Christmas’.

It is also a reality that as EOs have been denied even a sweetener, seeing their bonus reduced to £90, those on the national scale will also move closer to the NLW figure come next April. This once again highlights the importance of the national union’s demand for an overhaul of the discredited Civil Service pay systems, and a return to national pay bargaining.

Of course, the 5% remit was never going to allow departments to fix decades of a broken pay system across Whitehall, but Left Unity knew that already, as did our members on the NEC, and engaging with our members should have been the priority.

Missed opportunity

Left Unity also knew, however, that the small number of members we currently have covered by a live strike mandate, would not provide leverage enough to force the government to up the 5% pay remit.  This was a point unanimously agreed by the NEC and the National Disputes Committee (NDC) both committees being heavily represented by the BLN/IL/Coalition for Change majority.

That same self-proclaimed ‘NEC majority’, rather than agree to delegated talks and a consultation with the membership across the union, having initially thwarted the opening of delegated talks, have subsequently focused all their attention on asking branches to hold EGMs to support their call for a costly Special Delegate Conference; a conference that will see our members subs paying for their vanity project, allowing them to once again debate their so called strategy amongst themselves rather than with the members that are sitting in the workplace.

Remember, following their initial decision to refuse to authorise the commencement of delegated pay talks, it took a letter from the DWP GEC to the General Secretary, and a Senior Lay Reps Forum voicing their disagreement, to push the ‘NEC majority’ to backtrack. Thankfully the Lay Reps agreed with the Left Unity NEC members that it was imperative that we were able to enter talks, and the ‘majority’ were forced to agree to departmental pay teams entering negotiations, the very day before DWP talks began. This allowed our negotiators to attend and block the move by DWP to funnel all of the money from the 5% pot to the higher grades.

The blame game disrespects members’ plight

Incredibly, rather than focus their anger on the DWP for failing to deliver what was affordable within the 5% remit, or acknowledge the truth of the matter, that at a longer term campaign would be required to shift the Cabinet Office remit upwards, the Independent Left have immediately moved to their tried and trusted formula of blaming Left Unity for everything that goes wrong. IL’s refusal to accept that the offer, as bad as it is, would have been even worse had we vacated a seat at the table, and looking to personally attack the National President for his elected role, to uphold the union’s rules on the NEC, rules that they continually attempt to breach, misses the point and does our members a disservice.

Less than a week after those in different political factions elected on to the DWP Group Executive, united to condemn the employer and government for not delivering more for members, we now see the IL look to blame Left Unity rather than focus their attention on building a campaign within DWP.

That is what is needed now, a strong and united campaign, not cheap sectarian point scoring. The truth is that our union should have been out of the blocks weeks ago, consulting members and testing their views on the remit and their mood to fight for more once delegated talks had ended.  The NEC were blocked by the ‘majority’ from speaking to members, blocked from negotiators being provided with guidance for the talks, and now we see them making a concerted effort to divide PCS when we should be united against the employer.

We do not have the luxury of waiting any longer. Left Unity supports the unanimous decision of the DWP GEC to reject the offer and use the time our negotiators have secured for members meetings to speak to as many members across the group as possible, to articulate what PCS have demanded and how we can campaign together, to win better for you.