The PCS Coalition for Change is an alliance comprising PCS Independent Left and other groups working in PCS who seek to elect a union leadership who take seriously the challenge of building a fighting, democratic PCS to defeat austerity and halt the attack on our jobs and public services. If elected, we will carry out the following programme:
For a fighting union
Building a National Campaign on Pay, Jobs and Hybrid Working
Since May 2025, and the election of the current NEC, most members have seen their pay fall when compared to inflation. Low pay remains endemic across Westminster and devolved civil services and amongst our private sector members, and our lowest paid members are routinely overtaken by the National Minimum Wage rise each April. This is disgraceful.
If elected, we will fight for an immediate 10% pay rise and to end low pay, as part of a strategy to deliver above inflation pay restoration over time. We will fight to restore national pay bargaining and end multi-tier pay and terms and conditions by harmonising all pay and terms and conditions upwards. We will fight to reverse major detrimental changes to our contractual rights, on pensions, sick pay, annual leave and other rights.
Pay and contractual rights are not the only issues facing members, however. Tens of thousands of job cuts across Westminster departments have been announced – while the incumbent NEC does nothing to coordinate opposition to these major job losses.
The current PCS leadership under Martin Cavanagh, Fran Heathcote and PCS Left Unity (LU) have been ineffective in stemming increasing workloads, the erosion of hybrid working, fighting unilateral rota changes by management, opposing office closures, tackling the rising threat of AI to civil service jobs and the deliberate attack by the government on London-based civil service jobs through Places for Growth.
To take on and defeat the government and employers on all of these issues, we will make the building of a coordinated, national campaign our top priority if elected – not just in the UK civil service, but in the devolved Scottish and Welsh civil service and in privatised areas too.
We will build on important Group and Branch disputes to develop a co-ordinated approach to these issues, as opposed to leaving these disputes to languish in isolation, which is the current approach of the LU-led NEC. A Coalition for Change-led NEC will build momentum towards a coordinated industrial fight, including national and selective strikes, and action short of strikes, to force the government to concede members’ legitimate demands on pay, pensions and jobs, but also to secure genuine freedom and flexibility for our members in how and where we do our work.
A Serious Approach to Union Organising
Branches and Groups must have resources placed at their disposal to ensure they are leading the charge to recruit the estimated three hundred thousand non-unionised civil servants and privatised workers on central government contracts into PCS. From streamlined processes to produce group, branch and workplace-specific leaflets, to the ability right down to branch and workplace level for elected reps to contact members directly, putting the power to recruit and organise members directly into the hands of branches and groups is a crucial step in building an organising revolution in PCS and overcoming years of barriers put up by employers.
A Sustainable Fighting Fund
We are committed to building a sustainable and robust fighting fund from within members’ subscriptions to meet our strike action requirements as soon as possible, to avoid an overreliance on temporary levies, which would be reserved for exceptional circumstances.
For a democratic union
Restoring Union Democracy
A Coalition-led NEC will develop the necessary changes to restore members’ faith in the structures of our union through an open process of member and activist engagement. This would minimally look to consult deeply on how we can increase the accountability of currently unelected employed officials to lay members and reps, the accountability of the General Secretary and President to the NEC and empower branches, regional committees and Groups. It would also consult members and reps on how we can make our elections more accessible and democratic. It must also explore how we can give timely and informative reports to members on key bargaining issues to improve accountability and the ability of members to inform and shape negotiations.
The President of PCS should not exercise dictatorial powers, no matter who they are or what faction they are from. The President and General Secretary must both be subject to the NEC elected by members. We will bring forth rule changes that limit the power of the President to frustrate campaigns agreed by the union’s Conference and by the democratically elected NEC, and which enhance the accountability of the union’s General Secretary to the elected NEC. For 2026 we need a new President and NEC that will undertake the dual tasks of leadership; to listen and to lead. A leadership that won’t be satisfied by “winning” talks with the Cabinet Office that result in no concrete gains, but whose desire is to deliver real results for members.
Empowering PCS Nations, Regions and Groups
The allocation of full-time officers to bargaining and organising at devolved nation, Region and Group level, what they achieve and how they can be most effective goes entirely unscrutinised by any elected committee within PCS. This must change. PCS officials must be accountable to the elected devolved nation, Region and Group committees. Lay rep committees who seek to carry out effective organising and campaigning activity in line with union policy, they must be able to do so without blocking from officials. We must prevent the bureaucracy from restricting their ability to effectively campaign or directly contact branches. All full-time officials with bargaining responsibilities should be elected.
All areas, particularly those which are currently underserved, such as Met Police, Culture Group and facilities management and commercial sector, should be adequately resourced to support effective bargaining and organising. Every area must be empowered to keep members fully informed and to involve members in shaping the union’s approach to negotiations. Wages of PCS full-time officials should be brought into line with the wages of union members; salaries over £100,000p.a. are not acceptable.
Reforming Legal Services
Every member and branch asking for legal advice should get that advice in a timely way. Groups and National branches needing legal advice and help for industrial relations reasons should get such advice and help. We will conduct a comprehensive review of legal services undertaken by the NEC in full consultation with representatives and members and with a view to substantially improving the support to representatives and members.
For Solidarity
Equality and Discrimination
We will fight to put equality at the heart of everything PCS does. We will fight to halt all discrimination in pay, terms & conditions, and employer policies, and root out harassment and bullying in all workplaces. We will insist on equality impact assessment prior to, and post implementation of, all employer proposals. We will make sure PCS gives full support for reps to build anti-discrimination cases and campaigns from the ground up.
We must centre trans liberation as a matter where the union must lead in society and not follow the most reactionary trends out of cowardice. Since the For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers Supreme Court judgment we have seen an increase in harassment and attempts to limit trans peoples’ access to public life. Last year, the leadership of the union sent trans delegates to ADC an incendiary plea not to use the toilets they were used to using then shut down Conference debates on trans rights motions; this must never happen again.
We will give our unequivocal support to calls for whatever legislative changes are needed to protect our trans and non-binary members from discrimination and harm and will consider how strategic legal cases can be taken to defend inclusive policies and practices in our workplaces.
Jobs & Homes, Not Racism: PCS Political Campaigns and Defeating the Far Right
We proactively support grassroots anti-racist and anti-fascist initiatives, cooperating at all levels with other organisations that seek to mobilise workers against the division and defeat that far right policies bring. We will seek to directly involve PCS members in the battle to unite communities against the despair that comes with the austerity agenda promulgated by the main political parties, behind common demands for jobs, homes and high-quality, well-funded, properly staffed public services for all.
We will fight to repeal the anti-trade union legislation, to win support for key political demands such as sectoral collective bargaining and mandatory union recognition in government procurement, and to oppose all public sector cuts. We campaign for energy democracy, a National Climate Service, tax justice, a universal social security net run in the interests of staff and claimants and for disability rights. We support strong links with tenants’ rights organisations.
Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework (Formerly DDaT)
Nearly one in twenty staff in the UK civil service are IT specialists of one sort or another. Many of these are on what used to be called the Digital, Data and Technology (DDAT) framework. Yet the General Secretary has not worked up a DDAT pay claim nor sought to organise Digital workers. If we win, that will change, and the union will properly organise Digital workers.
