The union is in trouble and members are being hammered: real pay and living standards slashed; pension contributions jacked up; jobs shredded; draconian sickness absence policies enforced; woeful performance management systems imposed; discrimination rife; PCS threatened by Tory plan to end check off. The “LU/Democracy” NEC is out of its depth. Change is overdue. Vote Independent Left!

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE NEC

The Coalition is to blame for the problems facing PCS members but the LU/Democracy NEC is responsible for how well PCS has prepared for and responded to the coalition’s assaults. Its record is poor.

SELECTIVE ACTION

For over a decade IL has argued for selective industrial action to be one of the weapons available to PCS in its fight for pay, pensions and jobs, to hit the government hard and fast. Last October the NEC finally agreed to identify key areas where action can have a serious impact. PCS might not have lost so often and so badly if the NEC had listened earlier.

VOLUNTARY LEVY

For over a decade IL has argued for a voluntary membership levy to help fund selective action. Last October the NEC finally agreed to raise funds to support members taking selective action. If it had acted earlier we would now have a war chest.

CHECK OFF AND CONTRACTUAL RIGHTS

For over a decade IL has argued for the incorporation of the positive provisions of civil service Handbooks into members’ contracts of employment. Last September, our policy was vindicated when the High Court cited the explicit incorporation of check off into DCLG members’ contracts and declared Eric Pickles’ abolition of the arrangement in DCLG to be unlawful.

The incorporation of check off and other provisions in DCLG reflected the work of IL members and IL policy, just as it does in DfT, the only other department with check off as an explicit contractual right.

FAILURE TO PREPARE

The courts cannot be relied upon as defenders of trade unions. Nevertheless the LU/Democracy NEC should have negotiated contractual rights for members years ago, creating a barrier to attacks on our terms and our income and should have started preparing for the attack on check off when the Coalition advised local government to consider ending it for “their” unions.

FULL TIME OFFICER WAGES

PCS is supposedly the most left wing union in the country yet it pays its officers salaries of up to £92,000 a year and with commensurate pensions! Becoming a PCS Full Time Officer should be a labour movement vocation not a smart move to get far away from civil service salaries. IL has long argued that Full Time Officer pay should be closer to that of the members and if this argument had been accepted then PCS would be on a much sounder financial footing.

HINDSIGHT AND FORESIGHT

Hindsight may be a wonderful thing but foresight is even better in an NEC. Unfortunately only the smack of reality has compelled the LU/Democracy NEC to move belatedly and half heartedly towards IL positions.

VOTE IL!

Even with a better leadership the Tory attacks would have happened. But a better leadership would have prepared the members better for the bad times. The stark difference between IL and LU/Democracy is that we have ideas, think things through and plan ahead. Vote Independent Left for a membership led Union placing equality at the heart of its campaigning and defending the living standards of members.

SUPPORT OUR CANDIDATES

President
Christine Hulme, DWP

Vice Presidents
Marjorie Browne, DWP
John Moloney, DfT

NEC