News broke on 20 November confirming that PCS had won a 10 year long legal battle against a decision of the then Coalition Government to withdraw the check off method whereby Union members subs were deducted directly from their pay by the employer. The full story can be read here.

https://www.pcs.org.uk/news-events/news/pcs-wins-historic-battle-against-government-departments-supreme-court

The significance of this victory should not be underestimated. Although a legal victory it was the result of a united and determined campaign by members and activists and the union leadership, first under General Secretary Mark Serwotka and latterly his successor Fran Heathcote.

This case arose from the Tory/Lib Dem government’s attempt to bankrupt and break PCS, an attack that continued for years, and which the Union defeated, emerging stronger.    

The attack was political and carried out because the Union refused to bow down to the pensions sellout of 2011-12 and continued to fight on industrially, and also because it advocated not just resistance but a political alternative to Austerity.  

The campaign over many years of painstaking work from reps and members from all corners of the Union was a model in Union Organising. Many elements of this were soon taken up by other Unions in their organising work.  

The legal strategy is never an easy option to pursue. Court judgements are rarely in favour of Trade Unions and workers. Under the direction of senior officer Paul O’Connor though a long and hard legal battle has been comprehensively won.

Accompanying the attack on Check Off payments were attacks on Trade Union facility time for our reps particularly time off to attend Union Conferences and for Organising work. Undeterred many of our reps simply continued with these activities in their own time and using their annual leave.  

In 2014 a secret “Union busting in HMRC” document, leaked to PCS, also emerged which prepared and carried out the complete withdrawal without notice of all facility time off for seven leading activists in the Group including the Group President Lorna Merry and national Vice President Kevin McHugh. Through the work of reps on the ground in HMRC Group with support from the National Union that attack was successfully repelled along with short lived attempts to build a scab breakaway Union in that Department.  

We won’t be returning to the Check Off system but should be due significant compensation of millions of pounds from this Supreme Court judgement. Following a previous successful legal judgement against the DWP, the NEC at the time put most of this money into the Fighting Fund which laid the financial foundations for supporting members taking paid targeted Industrial Action in the first phase of our National Campaign at the end of 2022.  

Under the strategic leadership and direction of a Democracy Alliance led NEC together with the efforts and determination of our staff and all of our reps this is a success story for our Union in which we can all take pride.   

Between 28th October and 12th November, I supported the PCS members of the security officers on Strike against G4S.

Their last pay offer was an insulting 32 pence per hour above the national living wage with, hardly, any sick pay. But it did not prevent them from voting by 84% to reject the pay offer, and by 89% for more strike action.

The workers have, already, taken 41 days strike action in their dispute, resulting in jobcentres being closed and a reduced service being offered in others.

In London, I supported numerous amazing picket lines outside the Cabinet Office, South Colonnade Building in Canary Wharf and 10 Victoria Street.

I had to rise at 5.30 am each morning and travel down to the picket lines from Potters Bar in Hertfordshire, before starting work.

The attendance outside the Cabinet Office was enormous and solid with plenty of loud music, blowing of whistles and dancing.

We had support from quite a few Labour MPs including John McDonnell, the Labour MP and former Chair of the PCS Parliamentary Committee who condemned the appalling way that the security officers had been treated by the government according to their pay, terms and conditions, especially their sick pay. He added that the new Labour government has promised in – sourcing and must do so as soon as possible.

At Canary Wharf, the picket lines were well attended. It revealed that the legacy of the camaraderie of the Dockers is alive and well of which is a great inspiration to us all!

Left Unity will continue to support the struggle of all security officers and cleaners in the commercial sector. We encourage them to be active in PCS Union at local, departmental and national level. It is Left Unity’s aim to ensure that all cleaners and security officers are adequately represented in branch, regional, group, and national executive committees.

Let us campaign to improve the pay, terms and conditions of all cleaners and security officers.

An injury to one is an injury to us all in Left Unity as well as PCS!

Solidarity

Austin Harney

Supporters of the so-called “NEC Majority” attempted to pass a series of cuts to PCS budgets and services at the NEC meeting held on 7^th November.

Supporters of the coalition tabled proposals to:

• Impose real terms cuts to every budget in the union by setting a 0% increase.
• To impose further cuts to overspent budgets including the conference budget, legal services budget, membership benefits and our benevolent fund.
• To freeze the pay of PCS staff by setting a 0% budget increase. 
• In language reminiscent of George Osborne the ‘NEC Majority’ attempted to force budget holders to ‘identify waste and find savings’ to budgets. 
• Impose austerity on the union’s own budget and to tear up the financial objectives democratically agreed at ADC in May of this year.
• Block a subscriptions increase of 17p in 2025 in favour of continuing to collect the Levy. A subs freeze will mean that we need to cut our services by £1.3M next year.

Our General Secretary, Fran Heathcote, had to intervene to prevent these cuts taking place and to move an alternative budget that was balanced, and which protected members services. A final decision will be taken on the budget at the next NEC scheduled for December.  

Left Unity members at the meeting expressed outrage and anger at the proposals, pointing out that the language being used by NEC Majority supporters used to justify their proposals was the same as that used by Tories when imposing cuts on public services and attacking PCS members.

Our supporters pointed out that a political choice to impose budget cuts would mean union services are cut. Critical budgets, including legal services, member benefits, the benevolent fund and Group and Branch funds would all need to be reduced and that funding in these areas is  already over stretched. Cutting them would be a disaster for members.    

In a rare moment of honesty, an Independent Left supporter made clear that their proposals were designed to create chaos and to attack Fran, the first woman leader of our union.

Why won’t the ‘NEC Majority’ suspend the levy?

At the same meeting Democracy Alliance members on the National Executive Committee put forward a proposal for the immediate suspension of the Levy. PCS members are currently paying £5 or £3 per month into the Levy which was devised for the National Campaign under the leadership of the Left Unity majority NEC in 2023. It was designed to support PCS members taking targeted strike action in support our demands. Over £5M was raised at that point and £6.8M paid to striking PCS members.

Our position is that, given no targeted industrial action is currently taking place or is likely to be called in the near future, that continuing to collect the Levy is ludicrous. Members and activists are quite rightly asking why money is continuing to be collected in those circumstances. 

The NEC meeting received evidence that what was once a popular method of collecting funds to support strike action in support of clear demands delivered by a clear plan is now increasingly subject to criticism from members and activists.     

Based on that evidence – and evidence from Group Executive Committees and Branches showing strong support for suspension of the Levy – Left Unity members, and our comrades in the PCS Democrats, moved to suspend the Levy with immediate effect.

We were disappointed, but not surprised, that despite winning a majority vote, the motion was blocked by supporters of the so-called NEC Majority, as there wasn’t a two-thirds majority in favour of revisiting the decision.

Unbelievably, the same people who had claimed that members could not afford a subscriptions increase of 17p were determined to continue to collect a much higher payment into a Levy that they are not intending to use.

The truth is clear

PCS members were promised a change in direction by the “Coalition” when it gained a small majority on the NEC in May.

Left Unity has consistently argued that the change that would actually be delivered would be  damaging to both the union and our members.

After a series of embarrassing u-turns since May, and the increasingly hostile and personalised attacks on our National President and General Secretary, this latest attempt to hamstring the union is surely their lowest point yet.

Left Unity will continue to demand the levy be paused, and remain totally committed to a socialist programme of building our union, and delivering for members.

We urge every activist or member of PCS, who genuinely cares about our union, to work with us to bring back some order, and place our members needs and the services we provide, at the top of our agenda.

click here to receive our WhatsApp notifications – https://chat.whatsapp.com/JTXI9Wk3cNGGuUKTFRRd2B