I am seeking your support for the post of Group Vice-President in this years GEC elections. It has been an honour and a privilege to serve as your Group President for the last 5 years, and I ask for your support based on my record in that role and in over 30 years as a union activist.

The drastic fall in members living standards and risk to jobs have continued to dominate the last year. Thank you to all of you that supported the action taken in the early part of 2023, which resulted in more money in members pockets, doubling the Treasury remit, gaining the £1500 lump sum, and forcing the government to shelve its proposed 33% cut to your compensation scheme.

I was immensely proud to lead our group past the anti-union ballot threshold for the first time in November 2022, and worked hard to identify and consult those branches who took part in the targeted action.

Of course, despite forcing those concessions, not enough was achieved, and if elected back on to the GEC, I will work hard alongside my comrades, to repeat the level of membership and activist support we saw first time round. 

I am a leading advocate of the national strategy that has maximised the pressure on government and employers, while minimising the financial burden on you and your families. One which forced concessions. Unlike our direct opponents in these elections we have a strategy that can be sustained and escalated, improving our chances of winning our demands on pay, pensions, and job security.

You will now know the NEC, under my leadership as acting  National President, have announced we will now engage urgently with members about our revised demands, as we seek to maximise our leverage on the government ahead of this year’s Treasury remit announcement. We have held true to our word, by reviewing progress made in talks during our pause in action, and now moving to engage with members about reinstating our industrial response as those talks haven’t deliver enough for you.

Incredibly, our opponents, having demanded more unpaid action and to move quickly to re-ballot last year, are now calling for a delay in our consultation with members, even suggesting in recent days that they would rather prioritise the upcoming elections than the re-starting the fight for better pay, pensions justice and job security for our members. Shameful!

Of course the national campaign isn’t the only issue affecting you, as staff shortages lead to increased pressure and workloads for our members across DWP.

It is why the Left Unity leadership of the GEC launched the staffing campaign last year, and continue to consult members as to their readiness to take action to achieve the staffing levels we need. I will also lead a GEC delegation in taking our campaign to the heart of government in the coming weeks, as we hold a Parliamentary event with MPs that will highlight the staffing crisis in our department.

The current group leadership understands your priorities and have negotiated:

• the largest recruitment of new staff in two decades
• the biggest ever conversion of FTA staff to permanent
• the highest percentage pay increase for AO members in decades
• an improved attendance management policy that has drastically reduced the number of warnings and dismissals
• organised a series of themed lunchtime equality events that have helped provide much needed advice on HR policy and personal casework

I am a socialist and proud member of Left Unity, and I urge you to vote for Angela Grant to lead our group as the new President in the year ahead. Angela has been a vitally important member of the group leadership team that has campaigned hard on the above issues and many more.

Please also vote for myself as Vice-President and all the Left Unity candidates listed on this website for a leadership that keeps it’s promises, listens to it’s members not outside influences, and has the bold strategy that can win for you.