I am honoured to be seeking re-election to the post of Group Vice President in the DWP Group. I have been a member of PCS and its predecessor union, CPSA, since 1984 when I joined the civil service. I am employed by the Department for Work and Pensions at the Glasgow Working Age Service Centre. I have been a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) since 2012 and have been a member of the DWP Group Executive Committee (GEC) since 2009. In addition to my Group Vice President responsibilities, I am currently Acting PCS Vice President and a representative in the DWP Glasgow Branch. I have successfully represented members and have extensive experience of negotiations with the employer at every level.

By voting for the Left Unity candidates in the forthcoming Group election, you will be voting for a leadership that delivered for members last year in our campaign on pay, jobs and pensions. Significant concessions were won from the Government by members taking industrial action, but clearly, we did not achieve all we wanted. However, as much as this was welcome, we still have some way to go to get the pay rise our members deserve. We have also seen off any attempt to cut redundancy payments by up to 33% paused until after the next General Election. This was a big concession from the Government as it formed part of the Conservative Party manifesto for the 2019 General Election.

I am proud of the role that the DWP Group have played in the National Campaign  with strongly supported targeted action in Liverpool, Doncaster, Bolton, Stockport, and Glasgow. This targeted action was in addition to every PCS member in the DWP taking three days national action. This action has resulted in major disruption to the DWP in their service delivery. It is because of all this and action across the union, that we have won significant concessions from the Government. However, we must be prepared to continue the campaign on pay this year as there is very little doubt that Government will offer our members the pay rise that they deserve. Once again, we will witness in April around 25,000 DWP staff in the AA and AO grades receiving a National Living Wage uplift. It is scandalous and unacceptable that the Government have not addressed this situation and allowed this to happen again. Left Unity led a bold industrial action strategy in the national campaign which included targeted action, supplemented with national action when it would have the maximum impact. Furthermore, every PCS member contributed to the campaign whether taking unpaid action on the three days of national action or by paying into a strike levy which enabled PCS to take thousands of members out on paid action from the union. This strategy minimised the financial impact on members. We listened to members and factored their concerns when taking the campaign forward. Unlike our opponents in this election who argued for a substantial increase in unpaid action, which our members told us repeatedly they could not afford. Thankfully 90% of members who voted in a consultative ballot on the national campaign supported our strategy.

Despite those successes achieved last year, it is now looking increasingly likely that we are going to have to ballot members again this year as despite constructive talks with the Cabinet Office. It is scandalous that, once again, thousands of staff in the AO and AA grades will receive a National Living Wage uplift in April. The government have allowed this to happen and must be addressed as a matter of urgency.

There is a staffing crisis in the DWP with members continuing to report that vital services to the most vulnerable people in society are being affected as a result. Members are reporting increased stress levels and effects on wellbeing with DWP struggling to recruit in certain parts of the organisation and retain staff, in the main down to poor pay, low staff morale and the reputational damage that the department has. The Left Unity members of the GEC have been at the forefront on the staffing campaign launched last year and will continue to take this forward.

If elected, the Left Unity leadership will continue to campaign, in addition to pay, pensions and jobs, on the following:

• Adequate staffing levels
• Opposing all office closures
• Defending the Welfare State
• Opposing all privatisation
• Promoting equality and opposing discrimination
• Against detrimental changes to the Hybrid Working Policy
• Hybrid Working for Front of House staff

Please vote for me and the strong, determined, and experienced Left Unity candidates in the forthcoming DWP Group election.