Democracy Alliance NEC election launch rally

Tuesday 15th April, 6.30 to 7.30pm

Chair Lorna Merry
Speakers
Martin Cavanagh, PCS president
Angela Grant, DWP president
Marianne Owens, HMRC president candidate
James Cox, Home Office president
Jackie Green, PCS vice president

Meeting details
Zoom meeting 85071007014
Click https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85071007014

50 people met in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, last week to plan a campaign to prevent the Reform Party from making a breakthrough in the local council elections. Hucknall is next door to Reform MP Lee Anderson’s Ashfield constituency so beating them here is very important.

PCS representatives were involved from the outset in helping set up a Stand Up To Racism meeting which was aimed at getting local anti racists, trade unionists and labour movement activists together. Speakers included PCS regional secretary Dani Jackson and NEU NEC member Louise Regan. The audience included trade unionists, Labour Party, ex Labour activists and crucially ex miners, as this was a mining town.

Speakers talked about the need both to confront the racism of the Reform Party, but also to recognise that many people have voted for them out of frustration, and what is crucial is to find out what the concerns people have are and to address them. Many people are concerned about housing, unemployment, the cost of living etc and these are issues that are not caused by immigration or refugees. Also we have to point out the anti working class reality of Reform, only last week their MPs voted against the Employment Rights bill.

The meeting committed to campaigning in the area on the streets and in the workplaces to turn the tide on Reform. Meetings and campaigns like this are going on up and down the country and Left Unity would encourage every PCS member to get involved.

In Birmingham on 28th March PCS is supporting a protest against a Reform rally in the city.

The PCS anti racist anti fascist strategy can be found here https://www.mypcs.pcs.org.uk/s/article/Download-the-PCS-Anti-racist-and-anti-fascist-strategy

And there is a useful factsheet exposing the reality of Reform here https://www.standuptoracism.org.uk/wp-content2015/uploads/2025/02/SUtR-Reform-UK-factsheet-A4-2pp-3mm-bld-_QR_updated.pdf

Pete Jackson Midlands regional chair (pc)

PCS NEC election season is once again upon us, and with it comes the usual sudden upturn in activity from the Socialist Party, led by its chief PCS mouthpiece and perennial election candidate, Marion Lloyd.

There are few things in life that Marion enjoys more than the sound of her own voice, so it is no surprise that she is now publicly calling for another meeting so she can further indulge her favourite pastime.

In order to justify her call, she points to a press article this week in The Guardian, which highlighted plans by a right-wing Labour think tank to take a “chainsaw” to the civil service.

That approach has already been comprehensively dismissed by the government.  They described it as a “juvenile characterisation” of their plans for the civil service.

Not that this has deterred Marion. She has again today reiterated her call, claiming that the General Secretary and the National President are “asleep at the wheel”; and claiming that the government has “cut NHS England by 50%”.

It is Marion who appears to be asleep. The government has today in fact announced that NHS England will be abolished, not cut; and that the health service will be brought back into democratic control.

PCS has long argued for a more coherent public service delivery model, with an active state that mobilises to improve the lives of the public.  We do not believe that quangos are the best way to achieve this and we welcome moves to bring arm’s-length bodies back under direct state control.

Furthermore, in NHS England, PCS has a membership density of around 1.14%.  Our negotiators have matters in hand and are in talks with the employer to ensure that the interests of those members are protected during any transfer process into the Department for Health and Social Care. 

It is therefore unclear why this development necessitates an emergency NEC meeting, particularly in light of discussions that have taken place at ministerial level on rewiring the civil service, reported on yesterday by the General Secretary here; and in light of the statement issued by the General Secretary today in response to the Prime Minister’s announcements which can be found here

Unclear that it is, until you realise that it is election season, and Marion needs some strawmen to knock down, probably to deflect from 12 months of achieving nothing other than continuing to unnecessarily soak members for a levy. 

PCS activists and members should not be fooled by this ridiculous posturing.

On Friday, 28th February, Scottish Left Unity members attended Scotland’s first-ever PCS policy-making conference. This landmark event represents a significant opportunity for PCS Scotland to raise, debate, and vote on issues that affect Scotland as a devolved nation.  Left Unity was at the forefront of securing conferences for the devolved nations.

Since the inauguration of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, numerous policies have been passed, many of which focus on workers’ rights. The Scottish arm of Left Unity has been at the forefront of the campaign for a Fair Work agreement. Unlike the national PCS policy, which currently lacks a stance on fair work, this conference allows PCS members to set mandates on Scottish-specific issues.

The standing orders committee received 46 motions, of which 31 were passed to be heard. These motions covered a range of topics, including expanding fiscal autonomy, changes to devolved taxation, supporting the Scottish Service Tax to calling for an expansion to the now faltering free school meals initiative. Additionally, the conference instructed the Scottish Executive Committee to produce campaign materials to explain these issues to members and the public.

As with any new committee, the model constitution required adjustments, particularly in the language used. Terms like ‘Devolved Area’ and the designation of PCS Scotland were refined to better reflect the unique context of Scottish governance.

This first PCS policy-making conference in Scotland marks a pivotal moment for PCS Scotland, providing a platform for meaningful discussion and decision-making on issues pertinent to Scotland as a devolved nation. This event underscores the importance of influencing and campaigning on Scottish policymaking and to hold Scotland to its fair work agreement.

The first DWP Young Members Seminar was held in Birmingham last month. Saul Cahill, Deputy Chair of DWP Group YMAC, and a PCS Left Unity member on the DWP GEC, writes about the successful event.

I was really glad to have the opportunity to chair this event, which was organised by Group Young Members Officer Jo Pritchard in collaboration with the Young Members Advisory Committee and with the full backing of the Group President Angela Grant and other LU GEC members.

General Secretary, Fran Heathcote, opened the event and restated her commitment to young members and described her journey as an activist.

YMAC members were supported to deliver some of the seminar sessions for the first time, including one on Strategic Organising, and really showcased the ability of young reps and activists to take a leading role in organising and educating.

Ellen Clifford, from Disabled People Against the Cuts, spoke powerfully on the devastating impact both the previous and current government’s approach to ‘welfare reform’ had on disabled people and the broader population. Angela Grant spoke on how crucial it is for our group to maintain and build upon these relationships as we fight together for a fairer social security system. Delegates from across DWP have continued to feed in their insight into where our department fails as our group looks to build a vision for a fairer, more just, social security system.

Group Organiser, Mark Byers, led a session on the importance of building density to increase worker power and on some of the tools activists can use to motivate non-members to become members.

A Q&A with Martin Cavanagh, Angela Grant and National Young Members Committee Chair and Vice Chairs Louis Radforth and Simmeron Katbamna, explored the challenges facing our group in the year ahead, how young workers can be protected from bullying and harassment in work and more.

What was striking about the event was the variety of experiences of the delegates who attended and how, for many, this was the first PCS event they’d ever attended. It spoke to how important it is for young members to have the space to meet, develop and share experiences as well as the value of senior reps and activists helping to create these spaces and vocally showing their support as they have in our group.

The Independent Left have always talked a lot about the union’s finances, usually in an attempt to slur their political opponents.

Their proudest boast is that their Alliance For Workers’ Liberty member, John Moloney, PCS’s current Assistant General Secretary, donates a proportion of his salary back to PCS, which is true. What they say less about is that John, in his mid-sixties, had already partially retired from the civil service, taken a lump sum, paid his mortgage off in London and bought an additional property abroad. Putting him in a position to be able to do so, and still live in London.

The Broad Left Network talk less about the union’s finances, knowing that the previous AGS, Chris Baugh, donated nothing to PCS, arguing that instead he chose to donate to the Socialist Party.

Their failed General Secretary candidate, Marion Lloyd, who stood, and lost, against both Mark Serwotka and Fran Heathcote decided to join her running mate, John Moloney, in pledging to only take the workers’ wage. Which sounded good, unless you realised that Marion, also in her mid-sixties, had partially retired, taken a lump sum, paid her mortgage off, and based on her current high grade salary, was earning more for her 2 days per week, than either her previous opponent, Fran Heathcote, or her latest opponent for PCS President, Martin Cavanagh, earnt working full-time as EOs in the DWP. So, the workers’ wage claim always requires a bit of scrutiny.

Now they are under pressure, due to their belated u-turn on the levy last week, which one Independent Left NEC member, Chris Marks, explained was necessary, “due to it being election time”, so, nothing to do with low paid members over-paying into a levy that they cannot afford, when no national action is taking place under the banner of the national campaign then?

The Independent Left are still repeating the falsehood that the Levy is currently funding the outsourced workers’ strikes, blatantly and demonstrably untrue, but repeated to spread confusion around the intended purpose of the levy.

In a bid to cause further distraction, in the last week they reinvigorated the X/Twitter account, which has lain dormant since 13th July, because, as they have already explained, it is election time. They have used it to mock the recent videos produced by the General Secretary, whilst following suit now, and starting to produce their own videos, in order to reproduce the lies that she has somehow ‘blown the budget’ on costly redundancies and a new staffing structure.

The truth of this matter is somewhat ironic.

There have been no redundancies, there have been severance payments, signed off by their National Treasurer, John Moloney. They did indeed come from the 2024 budget, but were authorised long before Fran took over. They had already been authorised,agreed, and presented within the Finance paper to the NEC, by John Moloney, when Fran took up post on 1st February 2024. These followed long-term custom and practice within PCS, something that was widely acknowledged at the time, but why let the truth get in the way of a good slur?

They then go on to suggest that the changes to staffing have somehow ‘blown the budget’. Sadly for them, the 2024 Finance Report is about to demonstrate that since Fran took over, staff costs have reduced to below 33% of subscription income, something Fran has been meticulous about maintaining.

It is also slightly embarrassing for them that, when moving the Finance Report in May last year, at a time when staff costs were running at 34.5%, John Moloney explained to ADC “PCS has got one of the lowest full-time official to member ratios in the TUC, and obviously there might be an argument that we should have more staff…”

Far from threatening the financial security of PCS, the changes introduced under the new general secretary are, in fact, expected to lead to financial savings for the union, and a collective agreement on this matter has been reached with the staff union, the GMB.

The lies and myths being pedalled by the Independent Left, often repeated by the BLN, well, certainly before last week’s disagreement, are the basis on which they have tried, and failed, to whip up adequate support to force a Special Delegate Conference, preferring to talk to an echo chamber of activists, rather than genuinely consult members on the way forward for the National Campaign.

The, soon to be published, Financial report will be proof, if any more were needed given their recent behaviour, that you cannot trust these people with your union, or your subs.

Both Independent Left, and the Broad Left Network, in fact, all parties in the so-called Alliance For Change, are hoping that members have short memories.

Don’t be fooled, reclaim PCS and vote for Democracy Alliance candidates in this year’s NEC elections – the only ones who have proved that they have your best interests at heart.

Conference censures the NEC for its failure to consult members on the continuation of the levy during this year when it’s not been used to fund any action under the national campaign mandate. The voting record of individual NEC members on this can be found in the annual report.

Regrettably hundreds of members have voted with their feet and left the Union citing the levy or increased cost of membership as the reason.  This is also causing a serious impediment to recruitment of new members to the Union.

The membership levy was initially agreed by an all member consultation and used to good effect during the first round of action in 2022/23 but this NEC have denied members the opportunity to review this decision despite several opportunities to do so arising during the last year.

Conference welcomes the decision of 14 February NEC to pause the levy although the delay in taking this decision has been at great personal cost to members and undermined membership confidence and trust in any future levy campaigns.

The incoming NEC is instructed to launch a full all membership consultation on the future provision of financial support for members taking paid targeted industrial action.

This consultation to take place as soon as is practicable following ADC with a view to replacing the current flat rate 50p from members monthly subscriptions paid directly into the general Fighting Fund with an appropriate percentage figure that will generate a long term regular growth in income to the Fighting Fund.

The consultation to be concluded in enough time to seek membership endorsement for any necessary rule changes required to be ratified by ADC 2026.      

Any further additional levies should receive membership approval in advance, be only used for specific campaign purposes and subject to regular review and further membership endorsement where necessary.  

The NEC met on 14 February and voted to pause the national campaign levy – meaning that from March members will no longer have to pay £3 or £5 per month on top of their union subs.

Led by Left Unity members, and our PCS Democrat comrades, the NEC voted a resounding 25-8 to finally pause the levy.

The previous day, PCS General Secretary Fran Heathcote had published a video explaining the national campaign levy – and why she was calling for it to be paused.

It was a Valentine Day’s Massacre for the self-styled ‘NEC majority’ led by the now-not-so-Broad Left Network, who only had 8 members stay with them in voting to retain the levy (Dave Semple, Marion Lloyd, Bobby Young, Chip Hamer, Fiona Brittle, Gemma Criddle, Rob Ritchie and Annette Wright).

As the roll call vote was taken a chipper Chip Hamer gave a hearty ‘No!’ while a much more disconsolate ‘no’ was mumbled by Marion Lloyd.

As in August and December, all Left Unity members voted to pause the levy, but this time were joined by Independent Left members, as well as Hector Wesley and John Davidson from the Alliance for Change in HMRC.

Those NEC members will have to reflect on why they voted against the very same proposal to pause the levy in August and again in December – unnecessarily costing members up to an extra £30 each; and, on why they refused the opportunity to review their decision in November.

As Chris Marks was keen to explain, when attempting to move an erroneous point of order, trying to justify their opportunist U-turn “we are now getting near to election time.”  Exactly Chris, and we see through you!

Of the four members elected under the Alliance for Change banner, two voted to pause the levy and two voted to keep it. They don’t seem to be much of an alliance anymore and are divided on whether to change or stick with the status quo.

Those NEC members who voted to pause the levy from the Democracy Alliance were: Martin Cavanagh, Jackie Green, Marianne Owens, Karen Alderson, Paula Brown, Saul Cahill, Bridget Corcoran, James Cox, Chris Dando, Cathy Darcan, Angela Grant, Ros Hewitt, Ian Lawther, James Marshall, Sarah Morton, and Cara Nurse.

Some of the U-turners have now taken to social media to justify themselves, presumably hoping members have short memories. The wiser ones are keeping quiet!

Despite their indignant claims, only Democracy Alliance members were proposing a pause. Their alternative was a continuation of the levy, albeit at a lower rate.

The so-called review that they now claim they wanted all along but were denied, was carried out in August by the General Secretary, leading to her recommending the levy be paused – they rejected that.

Friday’s NEC meeting got off to an inauspicious start with time wasted by the ‘NEC majority’ challenging the chair’s ruling – on the second occasion challenging a point of order that tried to table a motion for debate. This was too much for even some of them as only 7 backed the ludicrous challenge.

The Broad Left Network’s Fiona Brittle also tried to force on to the agenda of the special NEC a debate to call a Special Delegate Conference. Given Annual Delegate Conference (ADC) is now only 3 months away, and it would take months to book, plan and select delegates for a special delegate conference, you really have to worry about the attitude of those who would be happy to waste hundreds of thousands of pounds of members’ money organising a delegate conference at best, a few days before ADC!

It demonstrates their lack of awareness about what is involved in organising a conference.

The NEC meeting also heard reports of the consultation with GECs and national branches on the national campaign, and an update from the General Secretary on the outsourcing disputes. The union and members taking action have brought significant pressure to bear on the employers and the Government, which committed pre-election to “the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation.”

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One of the issues causing the most controversy right now is the continuation of the PCS levy. Comrades will remember that the levy was introduced early in the National Campaign as a way of funding targeted action, to be taken in support of the National Campaign. This was popular, worked well and our strategy of targeted action led to a number of concessions.

During the summer, the NEC agreed, unanimously, that there was no leverage for action at that point in time capable of shifting the government any further. One BLN member did mention in her contribution in July that the levy might need to be reviewed at some point, but this was never proposed by them formally nor voted on, as is now being claimed.

In August, following on from the earlier July debate, and despite there being no formal proposal made, the General Secretary did indeed review the situation and recommended that the levy now be paused, as the NEC had agreed to pause strike action. The General Secretary also recommended that a consultation take place with branches over how we build our fighting fund for the battles to come. Both of these recommendations were supported by Democracy Alliance NEC members, but rejected by the NEC majority, calling themselves the Alliance for Change.

Under the standing orders of the NEC decisions taken cannot be revisited for 3 months unless two-thirds of the NEC agree to revisit their decision. Such was the strength of feeling amongst members and branches across the union, however, Democracy Alliance members of the NEC again raised the pausing of the levy in October, with the President testing the NEC if they would be prepared to revisit the decision. Democracy Alliance NEC members voted to revisit the decision and pause the levy, but the opportunity was rejected by the alliance forming the NEC majority.

In line with the NEC standing orders, as soon as the 3 months expired, following a heavy mailbag from members, reps, groups and regions, alongside a number of member resignations, the General Secretary brought the recommendation to pause the levy back to the NEC in December – again it was rejected by the same NEC members, using their small majority to force through their position that the levy must continue.

A roll call was taken on both occasions, recording who voted for and against pausing the levy, and is available on request from the GS office.

Alliance for Change

When a political organisation has been in power for a long time, as Left Unity has, as part of the Democracy Alliance, sometimes suggesting that it is time for a change can be an attractive argument. Certainly, this seems to have been the case in 2024, when the newly formed coalition won a majority, with a number of ambitious promises about how they would transform PCS. But, what that so-called change in PCS has led to is an absolute paralysis in our union, increasing chaos and an inability to move forward on even the simplest of issues. This has been demonstrated by U-turn after U-turn, as those who get their ideas largely from books, and their respective political masters, the Socialist Party and the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty, realise that actually running the union, as opposed to sniping from the sidelines, is a bit more difficult than they anticipated.

With a breathtaking arrogance not borne from any experience on the ground, and a complete disregard for the low-paid members involved, decisions are taken based on the whims of small sect organisations who don’t have the best interests of our members at heart. Whilst some within the alliance have begun to waiver and voice their concerns, they have been persuaded by the BLN, in particular, to hold the line for the sake of the alliance. The dissent over the levy has been from across the political spectrum, but the issue has become a victim of the need to maintain the alliance at all costs.

These people simply cannot be trusted with your union or your union subs, recent events have shown us that.

Democracy?

Both BLN and IL claim to want democracy, why then are they so terrified of a consultation with members and branches? Every time this is proposed, it is rejected by the majority, preferring instead to hide behind the call for a Special Delegate Conference (SDC). Unable to get support for this call by anywhere near the number of branches which would represent 25% of the membership, and having a complete lack of understanding about what is involved in organising such a conference, it will shortly be proved, with the publication of the PCS Financial report, that every aspect of their ‘model motion’ calling for such a conference is based on a lie.

Far from the general secretary blowing the budget on a top-heavy staffing structure, as has been claimed, the union’s finances are in the best shape that they have been in for well over a decade, with staffing costs coming in at under 33% of subscription income. The whole basis for their SDC is proven to be false, but it is easier to maintain the call for this, and the lies surrounding it, than to face the anger of members in any sort of genuine consultation.

Cynicism

The coalition’s unwillingness to enter into any consultation with members over the levy, and their determination not to even try to get a consensus, shows that they are not at all serious about democracy. All of their current efforts are being put into seeking to discredit Left Unity President, Martin Cavanagh, claiming that he is using bureaucratic means to block them. The president’s job is to uphold the rules, something that Martin does diligently, and for this he is castigated at every opportunity, in an attempt to weaken members’ confidence in him.

As recently as last week, BLN NECLOs attending GECs and regional committees, have been arguing for why the levy must continue. What is becoming apparent is that some members of the alliance, perhaps unhappy with the way the recent NEC election candidates were forced upon them, have started badmouthing the levy decision, and suggesting that the decision may soon change, just in time for the elections. To be clear, if the BLN/IL coalition was to now reverse their position on the levy, claiming that this was always the plan, and that they have now listened to members, neither claim would be true.

Rather, it would represent the worst kind of political cynicism.

Fight for PCS – Have your say

This issue is just one example of what is at stake for PCS. But there is something you can do about it.

Attend your AGM, encourage members who are angry about the levy to attend and have their say. Submit motions to conference. Nominate Democracy Alliance candidates for the NEC, knowing that they have members’ best interests at heart.

Don’t allow PCS to be hijacked in the interests of narrow political sects. Elect a DEMOCRACY ALLIANCE NEC, and together we can put an end to the madness.