Under Mark Serwotka, the union markedly became less dynamic and in a real sense, less democratic. Mr Serwotka was the arch spinner claiming things that weren’t true. Not only in 2023 but in the past as well. He did nothing to address fundamental issues such as falling union density. By any objective standards, he was a terrible General Secretary, but things have actually gotten worse with Fran Heathcote.     

President Blocks Democracy

Left Unity (LU) lost the NEC elections and hence is a minority on that committee along with their erstwhile allies the Democrats (in the past we would have described them as Labour leaning but now they are just a friendship club).

They did win the President’s position though, and through him any attempt by the majority to actually try and put in place the programme it was elected on has been smothered.

The President, Martin Cavanaugh, grossly disregarding the rules he is meant to uphold, rules the bulk of motions from the NEC majority out of order. When challenged, the majority cannot get two thirds of the NEC votes needed, to overturn his ruling and this cycle of rule out of order, challenge, not get two thirds, occurs again and again at each NEC.

Building A Wall

Of course LU realise (as there is no democracy or life in LU, Left Unity is just a label for Fran Heathcote, Paul O’Connor – more of him later and Martin Cavanaugh) that with yearly elections they can lose the presidential position so they are building up the bureaucracy of the union to ensure future NECs and conferences can be ignored.

Therefore the General Secretary, without informing the NEC and certainly not seeking its permission, has created a new extra top heavy layer of Full Time Officials (FTOs) to surround herself.

For most of its existence the union has had seven pay bands, with pay band 1 the lowest and pay band 7 (GS and Assistant General Secretary (AGS) are in this band) the highest.

Fran Heathcoat has created two 6A posts, whose pay range straddles those of PB 6 and 7.

She has ensured that Paul O’Connor, her key full time official ally has been given one of those posts and Lynn Henderson the other 6A job.

Lynn Henderson was beaten in the 2019 AGS election by John Moloney, and Paul O’Connor lost the 2023 AGS election, when he was a running mate to Fran Heathcote, again to John Moloney. So the two failed AGS candidates, both rejected by the members have the most senior FTO posts under the GS, whilst John Moloney, the person who decisively beat Paul O’Connor has in effect been made supernumerary in the new structure.

Fran Heathcote has also created eight new band 6 posts as well and is busily filling other posts at band 5.

Your Money being Used

After great delay in producing the figures, the GS now admits that the new structure will cost members at least £169K a year.

This is an underestimate. She is seeking to fill more posts, so costs will rise and the £169K figure does not include the guaranteed progression that FTOs are entitled to, nor does it take into account future pay rises. So we believe that in a few years the cost will be closer to £200K a year. This figure does not include union pension costs either.

Motion A9

Motion A9 passed at ADC 2021, mandated that staff costs be kept at 33% of members subscriptions – which of course is your money.

The GS bloated new structure directly breaches A9.

You will have all heard of the adage of repairing the roof when the sun is shining. What Fran Heathcoate has done is punch holes in a serviceable roof and she hopes, if she thought about the future at all, that bad weather will not come our way. Yet dark clouds are on the horizon.

Cuts Are On Their Way

The Chancellor to partly fund the average 5% pay award for the UK civil service (UKCS) has cut administrative budgets by 2%. The admin budgets include a number of items, but staffing makes up the biggest part of this budget. The government has made clear it will continue to squeeze admin budgets in the future and this must lead to a squeeze on jobs.

Everyone knows that the spending review underway will recommend further cuts in departmental budgets (at least in real terms) and this will also mean staff cuts.

Last, and certainly no means least, Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury, has written to cabinet ministers ordering them to find reforms and deploy technology that can save cash.

‘Deploy technology’ not only includes the increasing use of AI but also pushing digital transformation, that is getting the public to increasingly use web based services. This will lead to more job losses.

Ignoring The Past

UKCS headcount stands at about 542,000 at the moment. In 2019, it was 445,000, so in five years, numbers have increased by just under 100,000, yet our membership has not kept pace. Over those five years our union density has actually decreased.

If staff numbers decrease then the union’s membership will, taking every other staff rundown as a guide, also decrease. Yet the GS is forcing bureaucracy costs up, just when we could see a down turn in membership. This will mean us moving further from the 33% ratio that we are supposed to stick to.

The whole point of the 33% ratio is to keep staff costs manageable. The union at 2021 ADC had learnt the lessons of the continuing financial crises the union had weathered since 2010 – don’t allow staff costs to get out of sync with membership levels. Fran Heathcoat has ignored that hard won wisdom because all she can see out of the holes in the roof is the sun still shining.

Act First, Count Later

This financial irresponsibility has been compounded by the GS implementing the new structure and then costing it, rather than the rational process of designing the new structure and then costing it before making any decisions as to implementation.

Now, as we actually believe in a member’s lead union, the NEC should have been the body to make any decisions as to implementation of the new structure, whether we really needed 6A posts etc. After all PCS’s constitution says:

PR 8. The management and control of the Union, and the handling of its whole affairs, shall be vested in the National Executive Committee (“NEC”). The NEC shall conduct its affairs in accordance with: (a) the Rules of the Union; and (b) the policies determined by Delegate Conference or by membership ballot.

The Imperial General Secretary

The GS’s response is to create a new theory of the relationship between her and the NEC and of course by extension between her and conference and members.

She states that she is in sole control of staffing and staff costs and that the NEC has no say on these vital matters. The NEC’s role is to set polices and then she will solely determine how FTO staff are deployed to achieve the polices.

No Evidence, Just Assertion

So how does Fran Heathcote reach that conclusion despite rule PR8. Well she just asserts it. She claims that Mark Serwotka proved this was the case and all she is doing is following in his saintly steps. The GS doesn’t quote any of the rules in the constitution or show how her contract allows her this control. It just is.

The GS buttresses this stance by claiming she has legal advice that shows the separation of powers is, as she asserts them to be.

Will she show this advice to the NEC, no. Nor the advice she apparently has in relation to motion A9 that says she can freely ignore the 33% ratio.

How does she get away with this. Enter Martin Cavanaugh. He has made another of his rulings, this time to say that Fran Heathcote’s position is correct despite no proof it is. Again he challenges the NEC to overturn that decision. He also backs her position that she won’t actually show the NEC the legal advice.

So the GS uses union money to get the advice, she then uses that advice to deny the NEC any say over staffing and then says I won’t show you that advice!!

Democrats Refuse To Play Their Part

The Democrats used to have a bit part on NECs where they would say ‘remember it’s the member’s money and we can’t waste it’. This time they have not played their assigned role and are keeping silent on the £169K to nearly £200K a year being squandered. Apparently it isn’t the members money when Fran Heathcote uses it to reward her acolytes.

More Than Anger, Action

We are angry at this blatant misuse of your money and the undemocratic way that Martin Cavanagh is shielding the GS from scrutiny or control. Anger is good but only if it motivates us to take action to defend the union’s democracy and member’s money.

Firstly we must tell as many branches and activists as possible what is happening to our union.

Using union machinery, Fran Heathcote has issued a branch bulletin and an email to members setting out LU’s version of what happened at the NEC meeting of 12 August.

The majority did put an alternative to the GS’ paper. Now her paper, to paraphrase, said, everything we achieved last year (£1,500 prorated lump sum) was wonderful and this year we should take the money and then sometime in the future decide what to do next. It said nothing of substance on staffing cuts, on pay bargaining structures, on unequal pay, DDAT pay or progression.

The majority’s position (we think you know the drill by now) was ruled out of order. So the majority had no choice but to vote the GS’ paper down.

We must now start a branch based campaign to fight Fran Heathcote and Martin Cavanaugh. They have to be put under pressure.

Special Delegate Conference

Part of that pressure must be a serious consideration of holding a special delegates conference. The rules say:

A Special Delegate Conference may be called by the NEC, or on receipt by the General Secretary of a written application by Branches together representing one quarter or more of the membership.

We would need branches representing 47,000 members to write in. That can be done. Of course such a conference must cover more than union democracy and safeguarding your money but also the 2024 pay round and our anti-racist, anti-fascist (ARAF) work.

We Must Win The 2025 Election

This work amongst the branches will serve us well for the 2025 NEC election which we have to win, in particular win the President’s position. Without Martin Cavanaugh to shield her, the GS will only have the bureaucratic wall she has built, the army of Pay Band 6s and her 6As, to protect her.

She will no doubt take the position of an early President of the USA, Andrew Jackson, who supposedly on hearing an adverse decision of the Supreme Court supposedly said “John Marshall (the Chief Justice of the court) has made his decision; now let him enforce it’.

Fran Heathcote will say of NEC and ADC decisions “They have made their decision; now let them enforce it, but they won’t be using my FTOs’.

Members Must Control The Union

So we have to win more than the election, we have to ensure that the GS actually obeys and complies with democratic decisions. That means changes in the union’s constitution and passing legally cast iron motions at ADC 2025.

Structures Fit For Bad, As Well As Good Times

Because we know that there are rainy and indeed stormy days, we have to reduce our staffing costs to bring them into line with our current membership. ADC passed A9, we have to obey it.

Mark Serwotka Prepared The Ground

In many ways, this crisis has been coming a long time. It was hidden under Mark Serwotka’s reign as for decades he had LU run NECs, who were content to allow him to be an Imperial GS. Further conferences, on the whole, went his way. So he had the same views as Fran Heathcote, but he never had to reveal his hand or power.

As LU have lost the NEC, and ADC 2024, what was hidden has now been forced into the open. The Imperial GS has had to reveal itself.

Our Union Or Fran Heathcote’s     

We are facing a fundamental crisis in the union. 

Down one path lies complete domination by senior Full Time Officials, where we have a managed democracy, where there are the outward trappings of democracy, that is votes, conference etc, but all that counts in the end is the will of the GS. 

Down the other path, where we elect NEC and they are free to implement the programmes they were elected on and conference really does determine the fundamental policies of the union. 

We though want to go further down that path and have a genuine member lead union.

Will you join us?