The ballot on whether to call off the dispute starts very soon. Now you might say that’s not true as the leadership claim we are moving to a new phase, just pausing the dispute and not calling it off; that later this year, we will evaluate the outcome of the pay settlements and then decide whether to begin action again.

Let’s pick that claim apart.

When the leadership say ‘later this year’, they are talking of November by which time all existing strike mandates will have run out and would mean having to re-ballot everyone and start afresh, causing further delays to any action.

Given that the General Secretary and Assistant General Secretary elections will be running in November, they won’t start any industrial action ballot whilst that electoral race is ongoing. Voting ends on 14 December and the leadership are not going to start a strike ballot during this period so this means we’d be looking at closer to Xmas to restart the process

We believe that the Left Unity leadership will say in those circumstances, let’s see what the 2024 remit is (this sets the pay budgets and usually comes out in March), so pushing off any ballot until mid or late next year. So that’s why we say the ballot is about calling off the dispute for this year. Kicking the can further and further down the road, starving the dispute of oxygen.

In previous postings we have set out in detail why the pay announcements are the lowest in the public sector, are not close to what the union demanded and show how equality considerations were ignored. 

We indeed concluded that there was a fundamental failure by the leadership in regard to equality.

Now we are working as individuals in branches, to support the branch based campaign PCS Say No . If you go to that site, you will see material that you or your branch can use for the ballot. You can follow them on twitter as well.   

Whilst we are up against the machine (creaky as it is in PCS), and they will throw everything into getting a yes vote, we, together can mobilise members to oppose the ending of the dispute. We have the facts on our side, the arguments as well. If we get those to members, then the vote can go the right way.