Yesterday, branch delegates to the London and South East Regional AGM voted unanimously for a motion calling on the NEC to continue the dispute.

The motion, proposed by Independent Left members in the DLUHC National branch called on the NEC to immediately renew ballot mandates, renew national and targeted strike action and draw up a programme of future action.

Following a short debate, all branches present in the room and online voted in support of the motion, including a Left Unity member of the NEC who also spoke in support.

Both during the motions debate and the previous Q&A session with the General Secretary, Mark Serwotka, branch delegates lined-up to express their members views, garnered through pay meetings, that the dispute should continue.

The L&SE region is by far the largest region in the union, representing over 50,000 members – over 25% of the total PCS membership.

The AGM also passed policy asserting the need for the region to engage in building trade union anti-fascist activity and prioritising the recruitment and organisation of outsourced workers.

Full text of the motion passed below:

That this Annual General Meeting notes that:

1. The package of measures announced by
   the Government on 2nd June was not an
   offer to PCS and was not conditional on
   PCS calling a halt to its campaign to
   secure, most importantly, a 10%
   consolidated cost of living increase in pay
   backdated to 2022/23 and an underpin of
   £15 per hour.
2. The 2023/24 Pay remit headline figure
   was sharply criticised by the PCS
   leadership and by Early Day Motion 1097
   for being below the rate of inflation. It is
   also not clear that HMT will provide
   additional funding for the remit but if it
   does not it will result in greater job loss
   and heavier workloads.
3. The discretion to enable departments to
   make a fixed non-consolidated payment
   of £1,500 per full-time employee, subject
   to eligibility, while a welcome
   achievement of our campaign, has many
   weaknesses. For example:

• It does not add a penny to our salaries
  and therefore the 2023 pay awards
  will t be based on the poor pay rates
  established in 2022.
• It will not count towards pension,
  redundancy, or overtime calculations.
• It will leave low paid civil servants
  stranded on desperately low pay.
• Departments are free to pay civil
  servants working part time on a pro
  rata basis and to impose conditions
  on payment.
• The lump sum will only be paid to
  members in the civil service on 31
  March 2023 and who remain in the
  CS on the date of payment.
• It does not require Departments to
  offer an option for members to take
  the lump sum in a manner that will
  reduce the amount of Universal Credit
  they will lose.
• Central government is not providing
  additional funding for the lump sum.

There is little meaningful progress on job
security and nothing at all on the
reduction of our pension contributions
and repayment for the overcharging to
date.
We therefore call on the NEC to:

1. Explain the issues and problems outlined
   at 1-4 above with issues to members.
2. To regain and renew legal mandates for
   strike action.
3. Renew the campaign of national and
   targeted action involving all bargaining
   groups with a current live legal mandate
   for strike action.
4. Draw up and implement a programme for
   future national and targeted strike action,
   showing tactical flexibility and not ruling
   out any particular form of industrial
   action.