by Tim Lezard@Union-News.co.uk
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka has responded to claims in The Times that he had not attended any of the negotiating meetings between Francis Maude and the other union leaders.
The Cabinet Office minister, who served in Margaret Thatcher’s government and last month warned he would re-write laws to make it harder for unions to go on strike, accused Mark Serwotka of refusing to attend the meetings over public sector pensions, a claim flatly denied by the union.
In a letter to the newspaper, Mark Serwotka wrote:
Sir, Your leading article (Dec 21) suggests I have refused to attend the negotiations over public sector pensions.
PCS has attended every single meeting since they started.
As part of the TUC negotiating team, I have attended every meeting centrally with Francis Maude and Danny Alexander.
My deputy Hugh Lanning has attended all meetings with their officials. However, they have only been able to discuss ways of implementing the government’s proposals, when what we need are proper negotiations on the issues of substance: imposing a tax on millions of public servants by increasing pensions contributions, raising the pension age even though the schemes are affordable and sustainable, and switching indexation from RPI to CPI.
Far from “walking away”, as Mr Alexander claimed in parliament, we want to negotiate on these things. But the government is attempting to exclude us from future discussions.
PCS has refused to sign the heads of agreement, saying nothing has changed since before the strike on November 30th, with workers still expected to work longer, pay more and receive less.
UNISON and GMB have signed up to the agreement, promising further talks in the New Year, while EIS, NUSUWT, NUT, UCU and Unite have refused, saying they will consult their members first.
Unions’ executives will consider the government’s offer early in the New Year before reporting back to the TUC’s Public Sector Liaison Group on January 12th.
Friday 23 December 2011
Wednesday 21 December 2011
Serwotka: “We will not be bullied by the government”
by Tim Lezard@union-news.co.uk
The PCS has said the government’s “unacceptable bullying” will not deter the union’s members from standing up for what is right.
During his statement to Parliament yesterday, chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander singled out PCS, accusing the union of “walking away from talks” – a claim strongly denied by the union which says they were told they no longer invited to negotiations.
In a letter to Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude yesterday, PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka wrote: “As the union representing the overwhelming majority of civil servants we want to reach an agreement, but we could not accept that the government’s proposals are an unalterable framework within which any discussions have to take place. PCS would expect to be involved in any further discussions which take place in relation to the government’s proposals.”
The union has reiterated its commitment to negotiating but ministers have refused to negotiate on the three core issues of forcing public servants to pay hundreds of pounds more each year in pensions contributions, work for up to eight years longer and receive much less in retirement – in many cases, tens of thousands of pounds.
Of all the proposed changes, these will have the biggest impact on the pensions of millions of public servants. Not a single penny of the extra contributions will go to make pensions any more affordable – because this is not required – the money will go to the Treasury to pay off the budget deficit caused by the recession and bailing out the banks.
While talks with Cabinet Office officials have been held in recent weeks on aspects of the civil service scheme, there have been no central negotiations with ministers on these key issues since 2 November.
At a meeting of the TUC’s public sector liaison group on Monday, Mark Serwotka reported the union’s view that nothing had changed since the public sector strike on 30 November, that the offer on the table in the civil service was not good enough, and that further industrial action will be necessary in the new year if the government’s continues to refuse to negotiate on the main issues.
He said: “It is extraordinary how PCS members have been treated by this government, simply for saying they will not accept being made to pay more and work longer for tens of thousands of pounds less in their retirement.
“This kind of unacceptable bullying will not deter union members from standing up for what is right, and opposing the government’s attempts to make them pay the price for a recession they did not cause. We remain committed to negotiating with ministers, but they continue to refuse even though we believe they have a legal obligation to do so.”
The PCS has said the government’s “unacceptable bullying” will not deter the union’s members from standing up for what is right.
During his statement to Parliament yesterday, chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander singled out PCS, accusing the union of “walking away from talks” – a claim strongly denied by the union which says they were told they no longer invited to negotiations.
In a letter to Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude yesterday, PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka wrote: “As the union representing the overwhelming majority of civil servants we want to reach an agreement, but we could not accept that the government’s proposals are an unalterable framework within which any discussions have to take place. PCS would expect to be involved in any further discussions which take place in relation to the government’s proposals.”
The union has reiterated its commitment to negotiating but ministers have refused to negotiate on the three core issues of forcing public servants to pay hundreds of pounds more each year in pensions contributions, work for up to eight years longer and receive much less in retirement – in many cases, tens of thousands of pounds.
Of all the proposed changes, these will have the biggest impact on the pensions of millions of public servants. Not a single penny of the extra contributions will go to make pensions any more affordable – because this is not required – the money will go to the Treasury to pay off the budget deficit caused by the recession and bailing out the banks.
While talks with Cabinet Office officials have been held in recent weeks on aspects of the civil service scheme, there have been no central negotiations with ministers on these key issues since 2 November.
At a meeting of the TUC’s public sector liaison group on Monday, Mark Serwotka reported the union’s view that nothing had changed since the public sector strike on 30 November, that the offer on the table in the civil service was not good enough, and that further industrial action will be necessary in the new year if the government’s continues to refuse to negotiate on the main issues.
He said: “It is extraordinary how PCS members have been treated by this government, simply for saying they will not accept being made to pay more and work longer for tens of thousands of pounds less in their retirement.
“This kind of unacceptable bullying will not deter union members from standing up for what is right, and opposing the government’s attempts to make them pay the price for a recession they did not cause. We remain committed to negotiating with ministers, but they continue to refuse even though we believe they have a legal obligation to do so.”
Tuesday 20 December 2011
Why PCS had to reject the pension offer
PCS have rejected the government's latest offer on pensions. Why? Because it was no different to what was on offer before November 30th, when millions (including thousands of PCS members) took action. The deal would still see you working longer, paying more and receiving less. In short, the government still want to steal money from your pocket when your pension is a contractual agreement between your employer and you.
The fact that some union leaders seem to fail to understand this is a gross dereliction of their duty to their members, many of whom will not share the view that the deals on the table are improvements and may express this quite angrily. The fact remains, however, that our General Secretary, Mark Serwotka, and our National Executive Committee have not succumbed to government blackmail and have called things by their proper name: this is not a deal worth the paper it is written on and acceptance of such a deal would be a complete betrayal of the sacrifice members have already made.
In the coming days, the government will attempt to appeal over the heads of PCS to you to accept their terms. A government that just last week arbitrarily decided to raise your pension contributions from April next year; showing what they really think about a negotiated settlement. You need to remain strong and tell the government:
I'm not willing to work longer, pay more and receive less.
I'm not willing for the government to steal money from my pocket when I have a contractual agreement.
I support my union's rejection of the proposed deal offered to PCS placed under duress.
The fact that some union leaders seem to fail to understand this is a gross dereliction of their duty to their members, many of whom will not share the view that the deals on the table are improvements and may express this quite angrily. The fact remains, however, that our General Secretary, Mark Serwotka, and our National Executive Committee have not succumbed to government blackmail and have called things by their proper name: this is not a deal worth the paper it is written on and acceptance of such a deal would be a complete betrayal of the sacrifice members have already made.
In the coming days, the government will attempt to appeal over the heads of PCS to you to accept their terms. A government that just last week arbitrarily decided to raise your pension contributions from April next year; showing what they really think about a negotiated settlement. You need to remain strong and tell the government:
I'm not willing to work longer, pay more and receive less.
I'm not willing for the government to steal money from my pocket when I have a contractual agreement.
I support my union's rejection of the proposed deal offered to PCS placed under duress.
Saturday 17 December 2011
Ministerial hypocrisy will have consequences
What hypocrites our employers are. Iain Duncan-Smith sends his Christmas greetings telling us how important we have been to the Tories welfare reform plans and then slimy Maude threatens to exclude us from future pension talks and suggests the plans we went out on strike about on N30 will be imposed. We need to stand firm against the school yard bullies and their gang. The Tories depend on their civil servants to operate, but their treatment is more likely to mean we carry out their policies reluctantly holding our noses rather than how it should be; impartially and professionally.
Friday 2 December 2011
Mark Serwotka calls Francis Maude a liar
As advised by the DWP Intranet, I went to the Cabinet Office Pensions Calculator and put in my details.
What I got back was the message that since I was in within 10 years of retirement, it would not do any calculation for me.
Nothing about paying more in contributions and nothing about getting less through CPI, rather than RPI, indexation.
I am left to conclude that Francis Maude and his government are at best disingenuous, one meaning of which is untruthful. Mark Serwotka called Francis Maude a liar on last Wednesday night's BBC Newsnight and from my experience today I cannot disagree with our General Secretary.
What I got back was the message that since I was in within 10 years of retirement, it would not do any calculation for me.
Nothing about paying more in contributions and nothing about getting less through CPI, rather than RPI, indexation.
I am left to conclude that Francis Maude and his government are at best disingenuous, one meaning of which is untruthful. Mark Serwotka called Francis Maude a liar on last Wednesday night's BBC Newsnight and from my experience today I cannot disagree with our General Secretary.
Wednesday 30 November 2011
Strike Day 3
The banner has made it to the march with 100s if not 1000s of others.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Strike Day 2
We're just warming up prior to the march & rally.
Reports are that well over 90% of members are out.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Reports are that well over 90% of members are out.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Early Pickets
The day starts.
After yesterday's announcement of more pay restraint, more job cuts & regional pay it would be bonkers to not be on strike.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
After yesterday's announcement of more pay restraint, more job cuts & regional pay it would be bonkers to not be on strike.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday 24 November 2011
Six days to the N30 strike
I came across this by Harry Paterson,Freelance writer & music journalist and thought it was worth sharing.
N30 : Support The Strike
Posted: 23rd November 2011 in Blog
Tags: Bankers, Greed, Pensions, Public Sector, Scargill, Strike, Unions 0
We could be here ‘til next century, discussing the legacy of Thatcher, such is the landscape-altering impact of that vile woman’s contribution to British politics. So we won’t bother, then.
Instead, let’s take a look at one of the more insidious, but no less damaging, phenomena for which she can be rightly blamed. Namely, this mean-spirited, resentful and uncharitable world-view shared by so many. This is best illustrated by a conversation I heard on a radio ‘phone-in, the other day, discussing public sector pensions.
The outraged caller railed furiously against trade Union bosses’ plans for industrial action in defence of public sector pensions (they’re always ‘bosses’, aren’t they? Mob bosses, Mafioso chiefs and crime lords, being the comparison we’re supposed to make).
Why should public sector workers have gold-plated pensions? She demanded, angrily. Where do they get off having such a sense of automatic entitlement? Her pension, from the private sector, was nonexistent so she certainly wasn’t supporting any such action, she’ll have you know!
Depressingly, it’s this sort of attitude that’s largely responsible for getting us into this mess in the first place. Older readers will recall the huge industrial battles and bitterly charged disputes that defined the 80s. Wapping, GCHQ Cheltenham and, of course, the miners’ strike.
Then, as now, the same surly and jealous attitude pervaded. We’re all suffering, we’re all making cut-backs so why should Scargill’s greedy, commie miners be exempt? This also had the knock-on but devastating effect of alibiing the craven, spineless capitulation and outright treachery of Neil Kinnock, Norman Willis et al, as the miners were left isolated, unsupported and abandoned by the Labour party and TUC bureaucracy.
We all know the result. The miners lost and the trade union movement as any kind of vehicle for progressive social change was shattered for generations. Over the following decades, wages plummeted, protection from unscrupulous employers all but vanished and job security and a living wage dropped to a low not seen since before the war.
We’ll join those particular dots shortly, but for now let’s look at some of the most common objections to the strikes on November 30th. This one, from a friend of mine, is typical “…I’ve had pay-cuts in my job in the private sector and simply cannot afford to keep subsidising over-generous public sector pensions”
There are a lot of obvious responses to this; firstly, well why didn’t you join a union and/or fight against the slashing of your terms and conditions? Why resent another group of workers who have the balls to defend their pay and conditions when you didn’t?
Of course, his objections, and those of many others, basically fall into the category of ‘well I’ve been punched in the face, mugged and then shit upon and I didn’t do a thing about it so you should just lie back and take it too’ Not very noble that, is it? Not particularly logical as any kind of argument against, either.
Put more simply, though, look at it this way: you go for an interview, discuss the role, pay and conditions and maybe do a bit of haggling, maybe not, and then you and your employer sign a supposedly legally binding contract which lays out the obligations and benefits for both sides.
Imagine, then, a year or two into the job, you turn around, one day, and say to your boss, “Hey, you know that bit of my job we agreed on? Signed a contract to say I’d do it? Well, not really feeling that anymore so I aint doing it” Can you imagine the response? Yeah, your ass would be sacked PDQ.
So, with that in mind, why is it ok for the government to now turn around and tell their workforce that a significant part of their pay and conditions, a part significant enough to have been the deciding factor in millions of workers taking the job in the first place, is scrapped?
Striking, as a last resort, to resist this seems to me not only perfectly reasonable but clear-cut and morally, legally and logically unassailable. Apparently not, though…
Because as well as the the jealous, the resentful, the cowardly and the terminally stupid, there are also those who trot out Cameron’s hypocritical mantra that we’re all in it together. We simply can’t afford for teachers, nurses, firemen, dinner ladies etc to have “over generous” pensions subsidised by the tax payers. We all need to make sacrifices in UK PLC’s hour of need.
I see. Like Vodafone did when they got off scot-free with £8 BILLION POUNDS of dodged tax owed to the exchequer? You’d think, given the current climate, us tax payers could’ve done with that cash in the public coffers. What with us all being in it together and that.
Or how about the chiefs of effectively nationalised banks continuing to rake in multi-million pound bonuses for being crap at their jobs? Yeah, be nice to see those boys taking one for Team Britannia. You know, what with us all being in it together and that…
This, of course, exposes another lie they’d love you to swallow. You see, we’re not all in this together as patriotic Brits, doing our bit and making sacrifices. Bollocks to that! After all, what sacrifice are the bankers making? What cuts are we seeing among those made fabulously rich by stealing, ripping-off and driving the economy into the ground? No, the working class are in this together; employed, unemployed, public sector, private sector, young, old, working, retired and all scraping by on a pittance in comparison, while the super rich and their mates in government want those at the bottom to pay for the greed of those at the top.
So, as Arthur tried to point out during the miners’ strike, this is not just about one group of workers defending their interests. It’s about all of us because if the coalition gets away with stealing the pensions from their own workforce, you can bet your bottom dollar they’ll be coming for the rest of us next. Count on it.
Find your back-bone, find your integrity and take a stand. Join the strike. If you’re not in the public sector, support the strikers and their actions. Make your support known. And if you can’t do that then at least allow cold, hard, self-interest to motivate you because remember; today it’s the public sector, tomorrow it’ll be you. Don’t say you weren’t warned…
N30 : Support The Strike
Posted: 23rd November 2011 in Blog
Tags: Bankers, Greed, Pensions, Public Sector, Scargill, Strike, Unions 0
We could be here ‘til next century, discussing the legacy of Thatcher, such is the landscape-altering impact of that vile woman’s contribution to British politics. So we won’t bother, then.
Instead, let’s take a look at one of the more insidious, but no less damaging, phenomena for which she can be rightly blamed. Namely, this mean-spirited, resentful and uncharitable world-view shared by so many. This is best illustrated by a conversation I heard on a radio ‘phone-in, the other day, discussing public sector pensions.
The outraged caller railed furiously against trade Union bosses’ plans for industrial action in defence of public sector pensions (they’re always ‘bosses’, aren’t they? Mob bosses, Mafioso chiefs and crime lords, being the comparison we’re supposed to make).
Why should public sector workers have gold-plated pensions? She demanded, angrily. Where do they get off having such a sense of automatic entitlement? Her pension, from the private sector, was nonexistent so she certainly wasn’t supporting any such action, she’ll have you know!
Depressingly, it’s this sort of attitude that’s largely responsible for getting us into this mess in the first place. Older readers will recall the huge industrial battles and bitterly charged disputes that defined the 80s. Wapping, GCHQ Cheltenham and, of course, the miners’ strike.
Then, as now, the same surly and jealous attitude pervaded. We’re all suffering, we’re all making cut-backs so why should Scargill’s greedy, commie miners be exempt? This also had the knock-on but devastating effect of alibiing the craven, spineless capitulation and outright treachery of Neil Kinnock, Norman Willis et al, as the miners were left isolated, unsupported and abandoned by the Labour party and TUC bureaucracy.
We all know the result. The miners lost and the trade union movement as any kind of vehicle for progressive social change was shattered for generations. Over the following decades, wages plummeted, protection from unscrupulous employers all but vanished and job security and a living wage dropped to a low not seen since before the war.
We’ll join those particular dots shortly, but for now let’s look at some of the most common objections to the strikes on November 30th. This one, from a friend of mine, is typical “…I’ve had pay-cuts in my job in the private sector and simply cannot afford to keep subsidising over-generous public sector pensions”
There are a lot of obvious responses to this; firstly, well why didn’t you join a union and/or fight against the slashing of your terms and conditions? Why resent another group of workers who have the balls to defend their pay and conditions when you didn’t?
Of course, his objections, and those of many others, basically fall into the category of ‘well I’ve been punched in the face, mugged and then shit upon and I didn’t do a thing about it so you should just lie back and take it too’ Not very noble that, is it? Not particularly logical as any kind of argument against, either.
Put more simply, though, look at it this way: you go for an interview, discuss the role, pay and conditions and maybe do a bit of haggling, maybe not, and then you and your employer sign a supposedly legally binding contract which lays out the obligations and benefits for both sides.
Imagine, then, a year or two into the job, you turn around, one day, and say to your boss, “Hey, you know that bit of my job we agreed on? Signed a contract to say I’d do it? Well, not really feeling that anymore so I aint doing it” Can you imagine the response? Yeah, your ass would be sacked PDQ.
So, with that in mind, why is it ok for the government to now turn around and tell their workforce that a significant part of their pay and conditions, a part significant enough to have been the deciding factor in millions of workers taking the job in the first place, is scrapped?
Striking, as a last resort, to resist this seems to me not only perfectly reasonable but clear-cut and morally, legally and logically unassailable. Apparently not, though…
Because as well as the the jealous, the resentful, the cowardly and the terminally stupid, there are also those who trot out Cameron’s hypocritical mantra that we’re all in it together. We simply can’t afford for teachers, nurses, firemen, dinner ladies etc to have “over generous” pensions subsidised by the tax payers. We all need to make sacrifices in UK PLC’s hour of need.
I see. Like Vodafone did when they got off scot-free with £8 BILLION POUNDS of dodged tax owed to the exchequer? You’d think, given the current climate, us tax payers could’ve done with that cash in the public coffers. What with us all being in it together and that.
Or how about the chiefs of effectively nationalised banks continuing to rake in multi-million pound bonuses for being crap at their jobs? Yeah, be nice to see those boys taking one for Team Britannia. You know, what with us all being in it together and that…
This, of course, exposes another lie they’d love you to swallow. You see, we’re not all in this together as patriotic Brits, doing our bit and making sacrifices. Bollocks to that! After all, what sacrifice are the bankers making? What cuts are we seeing among those made fabulously rich by stealing, ripping-off and driving the economy into the ground? No, the working class are in this together; employed, unemployed, public sector, private sector, young, old, working, retired and all scraping by on a pittance in comparison, while the super rich and their mates in government want those at the bottom to pay for the greed of those at the top.
So, as Arthur tried to point out during the miners’ strike, this is not just about one group of workers defending their interests. It’s about all of us because if the coalition gets away with stealing the pensions from their own workforce, you can bet your bottom dollar they’ll be coming for the rest of us next. Count on it.
Find your back-bone, find your integrity and take a stand. Join the strike. If you’re not in the public sector, support the strikers and their actions. Make your support known. And if you can’t do that then at least allow cold, hard, self-interest to motivate you because remember; today it’s the public sector, tomorrow it’ll be you. Don’t say you weren’t warned…
Wednesday 23 November 2011
Save your pension - join the strike - show the hypocrites
One more reason that our strike with others on November 30th is successful
Pension-slashing minister Francis Maude could pick up £731k retirement pot
by James Lyons, Daily Mirror 22/11/2011
THE Tory minister ruthlessly slashing the pensions of millions of public sector workers could be in line to pocket a £731,000 retirement pot.
Francis Maude, 58, is among a number of Government ministers amassing vast, taxpayer-funded nest eggs.
But while the millionaire can look forward to a potential £43,000-plus a year income in his old age, he is cutting schemes for nurses, teachers and public sector workers.
Advertisement >>
The shocking sum is almost eight times the average £5,600 civil service employee’s pot.
Union chiefs yesterday branded Cabinet Office Minister Mr Maude and his well-to-do colleagues shameless hypocrites.
Len McCluskey, of Unite, which calculated the figures, said: “A typical public sector worker would have to work almost three lifetimes to get a pension like many of the ministers who are attacking our public services.
“Unite supports good pensions for all workers including MPs.
“What we don’t support is a cabinet of millionaires attacking the pensions of the men and women who care for our sick, teach our children and keep our streets safe.
“It’s another example of how out of touch the Government is.” Mark Serwotka, of the civil service PCS union, added: “They’ll be completely untouched by their cuts.”
MPs can grow their pension pot by up to one 40th of their final salary – currently £65,738 – each year in return for putting in 11.9% of their wage packet.
Senior ministers, who earn more, can also pay in at the same rate and receive one 40th of their total frontbench earnings on top of their Parliamentary pension.
Veteran Tory Mr Maude, who is masterminding the showdown with unions, earns about £98,700.
He will have chalked up 27 years as an MP and eight as a minister during two spells in Parliament if he keeps his job until the next election in 2015.
If he paid in at this top rate he would get a pension over £60,000, according to Unite. Payouts are limited to two-thirds of an MP’s salary but it still means he could get £43,825.
He and Chief Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander are playing hardball ahead of a national stoppage that is set to see millions of workers walk out of their jobs over the row next Wednesday.
Mr Maude has also been accused of bullying after threatening to bring in anti-strike laws.
David Cameron has surrendered his Prime Minister’s pension, which is worth half of his final salary in the top job, but still benefits from the generous pay and perks.
Contributing at the top rate, Mr Cameron – already worth an estimated £3million – would be entitled to £32,977 by 2015. His even richer sidekick George Osborne would get the same.
It is almost six times the typical £5,600 public sector pension. Someone in a private scheme would have to save up more than half a million pounds.
Deputy PM Nick Clegg could retire on £26,403 a year if he quits Parliament at the next election. Mr Alexander would get £26,403 while Business Secretary and Lib Dem Vince Cable would take home £39,551.
Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary busy demolishing the NHS, would pick up an identical amount if he opted for the top rate but a spokesman said last night he had chosen a lower one. Fellow Tory Eric Pickles, who has been inflicting brutal cuts on town halls across the country, could rack up £43,825.
Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/most-popular/2011/11/22/pension-slashing-minister-francis-maude-could-pick-up-731k-retirement-pot-115875-23579471/#ixzz1eVvg0Hjn
Pension-slashing minister Francis Maude could pick up £731k retirement pot
by James Lyons, Daily Mirror 22/11/2011
THE Tory minister ruthlessly slashing the pensions of millions of public sector workers could be in line to pocket a £731,000 retirement pot.
Francis Maude, 58, is among a number of Government ministers amassing vast, taxpayer-funded nest eggs.
But while the millionaire can look forward to a potential £43,000-plus a year income in his old age, he is cutting schemes for nurses, teachers and public sector workers.
Advertisement >>
The shocking sum is almost eight times the average £5,600 civil service employee’s pot.
Union chiefs yesterday branded Cabinet Office Minister Mr Maude and his well-to-do colleagues shameless hypocrites.
Len McCluskey, of Unite, which calculated the figures, said: “A typical public sector worker would have to work almost three lifetimes to get a pension like many of the ministers who are attacking our public services.
“Unite supports good pensions for all workers including MPs.
“What we don’t support is a cabinet of millionaires attacking the pensions of the men and women who care for our sick, teach our children and keep our streets safe.
“It’s another example of how out of touch the Government is.” Mark Serwotka, of the civil service PCS union, added: “They’ll be completely untouched by their cuts.”
MPs can grow their pension pot by up to one 40th of their final salary – currently £65,738 – each year in return for putting in 11.9% of their wage packet.
Senior ministers, who earn more, can also pay in at the same rate and receive one 40th of their total frontbench earnings on top of their Parliamentary pension.
Veteran Tory Mr Maude, who is masterminding the showdown with unions, earns about £98,700.
He will have chalked up 27 years as an MP and eight as a minister during two spells in Parliament if he keeps his job until the next election in 2015.
If he paid in at this top rate he would get a pension over £60,000, according to Unite. Payouts are limited to two-thirds of an MP’s salary but it still means he could get £43,825.
He and Chief Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander are playing hardball ahead of a national stoppage that is set to see millions of workers walk out of their jobs over the row next Wednesday.
Mr Maude has also been accused of bullying after threatening to bring in anti-strike laws.
David Cameron has surrendered his Prime Minister’s pension, which is worth half of his final salary in the top job, but still benefits from the generous pay and perks.
Contributing at the top rate, Mr Cameron – already worth an estimated £3million – would be entitled to £32,977 by 2015. His even richer sidekick George Osborne would get the same.
It is almost six times the typical £5,600 public sector pension. Someone in a private scheme would have to save up more than half a million pounds.
Deputy PM Nick Clegg could retire on £26,403 a year if he quits Parliament at the next election. Mr Alexander would get £26,403 while Business Secretary and Lib Dem Vince Cable would take home £39,551.
Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary busy demolishing the NHS, would pick up an identical amount if he opted for the top rate but a spokesman said last night he had chosen a lower one. Fellow Tory Eric Pickles, who has been inflicting brutal cuts on town halls across the country, could rack up £43,825.
Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/most-popular/2011/11/22/pension-slashing-minister-francis-maude-could-pick-up-731k-retirement-pot-115875-23579471/#ixzz1eVvg0Hjn
Sunday 20 November 2011
All Out on November 30th - the workers united can never be defeated!
Members of unions including our own campaigning in Leicester city centre on November 19th for the strike on 30th November.
Thursday 10 November 2011
NEW FROM LEICESTERSHIRE AGAINST THE CUTS
FOR LEICESTER CITY RESIDENTS:
The City Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, is conducting a very short on-line only consultation about the cuts he and the Labour administration want to make at the city council. The consultation can be accessed through this link:
http://consultations.leicester.gov.uk/ConsDetails.aspx?consID=407
Leicestershire Against the Cuts (LAC) believe that people should give all the services under threat the highest (6) marking and tell Sir Peter that we believe all these services are equally valuable to the people of Leicester.
LAC also believe that people should not complete the section on which three services they believe should be cut and instead use the space provided to tell the Mayor that cuts are not necessary and that he and his massive Labour majority should be building an alliance with other councils to fight the coalition government for the money to fund services vital to the needs of all whether they are old or young, male or female, in good health or not or need additional specialist assistance.
LAC will also be posting soon a letter you can send to the Mayor outling why you believe cuts are not necessary.
The consultation finishes on 25 November, so get your response in before then.
The City Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, is conducting a very short on-line only consultation about the cuts he and the Labour administration want to make at the city council. The consultation can be accessed through this link:
http://consultations.leicester.gov.uk/ConsDetails.aspx?consID=407
Leicestershire Against the Cuts (LAC) believe that people should give all the services under threat the highest (6) marking and tell Sir Peter that we believe all these services are equally valuable to the people of Leicester.
LAC also believe that people should not complete the section on which three services they believe should be cut and instead use the space provided to tell the Mayor that cuts are not necessary and that he and his massive Labour majority should be building an alliance with other councils to fight the coalition government for the money to fund services vital to the needs of all whether they are old or young, male or female, in good health or not or need additional specialist assistance.
LAC will also be posting soon a letter you can send to the Mayor outling why you believe cuts are not necessary.
The consultation finishes on 25 November, so get your response in before then.
Sunday 6 November 2011
Testing the claims on the Government's latest pension proposals
Government claim:
“The lowest paid and people 10 years from retirement will be protected, and public service pensions will still be among the very best available.”
Reality:
The lowest paid will not be protected – they will still be forced to work longer (up to 68) and suffer the indexation changes which will devalue their pension. The government has said that workers earning less than £15,000 (FTE) will not pay any extra contributions – this protection only covers 4% of PCS members.
Those within 10 years of retirement still face paying higher contributions equivalent to nearly a day’s pay every month (an extra £63.36 a month for the average member), and will lose over £16,000 in retirement as their pension will be uprated by the lower CPI measure of inflation rather than RPI.
Government claim:
“I have listened to the argument that those closest to retirement should not have to face any change at all. That is the approach that has been taken over the years in relation to increases to the state pension age, and I think it is fair to apply that here too.”
Reality:
This is the government’s main selling point of the new offer – and it is not true. Those within 10 years of retirement (i.e. 50-plus in Classic or Premium or 55-plus in nuvos) will still face extra pensions contributions of 3.2% (£63.36 a month for the average member) between now and retirement.
In addition, their pension will still be downgraded in value due to the indexation change from RPI to CPI. This alone would cost the average PCS member £16,400 over a 20 year retirement.
While this is only a partial concession for older workers, it is of no benefit at all to the majority of civil servants who are under 50 (or 55 in nuvos). PCS continues to seek a negotiated settlement in the interests of our whole membership, and future generations.
Government claim:
“Our objective is to put in place new schemes that are affordable and fair for taxpayers and public service workers, and that can be sustained for decades to come.”
Reality:
Public sector pensions already are affordable, due to the reforms we agreed in 2007. The Hutton report shows the costs of public sector pensions falling. The National Audit Office assessed our pensions schemes in December 2010 and found the 2007 deal “reduces costs to taxpayers by 14 per cent”.
The Public Accounts Committee found in May 2011, “the Treasury has not set out clearly what level of spending it considers sustainable in the long term. Instead, officials appeared to define affordability on the basis of public perception” – which is why they are keen to present a false impression to the public about our pensions.
Again the government is trying to create a false divide between public sector workers and taxpayers. Public sector workers are taxpayers too. If pensions are slashed then the cost will still be borne by taxpayers, through increased claims for means-tested benefits in retirement.
Government claim:
“Everything that public servants have earned until the point of change, they will keep, and those things will be paid out in the terms expected ... No public sector worker needs to have anything to fear for the entitlements that they have already built up.”
Reality:
This is not true; by imposing the change in indexation from RPI to CPI, the average PCS member would lose £16,400 over a 20 year retirement.
Alongside other unions and the Civil Service Pensioners Alliance, we have taken the government to the High Court to argue that this change was not only unfair but illegal. We are determined to protect your pension by legal means as well as industrial and through negotiation.
Government claim:
“the taxpayer needs to be properly protected from the risks associated with further increases in life expectancy, by linking the scheme normal pension age to state pension age.”
Reality:
We agreed a deal with the last Labour government that took precisely these changes into account. It meant a new pension age of 65 for new starters across the public sector. Based on the changes in the 2007 deal the projected cost of public sector pensions is falling, despite growing life expectancy.
Funding better pensions is a political choice. The UK state pension is worse than in every comparable EU country. France currently spends 12% of its GDP on pensions and Germany over 10%, but the UK only spends 6%.
Government claim:
“Pensions would remain considerably better than those available in the private sector.”
Reality:
This is classic divide and rule – and is a complete diversion from the issue at hand. We do not want an equality of misery whereby public sector pensions are driven down to the patchy and poor level in the private sector.
One-quarter of all tax relief on pensions, amounting to more than £10bn annually, goes to the richest 1% in the country. We hear about gold-plated public sector pensions, yet the real gilded pensions are to be found in the boardrooms of private companies that have abandoned provision for their workforces.
Government claim:
“reform is essential because the costs of public service pensions have risen dramatically over the last few decades”
Reality:
This is very misleading. It is true that public sector pensions cost, as Alexander said “just under 1% of GDP in 1970, they account for around 2% of GDP today”.
However, due to the changes agreed in 2007, the Hutton report shows that public sector pension costs will fall from 1.9% today down to 1.4%. The Public Accounts Committee has said that the changes will mean: “costs stabilising at around 1% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)”.
The government’s latest document, published on 2 November 2011, shows that pension costs will reduce under the 2007 deal to the level they were in the mid-1980s.
These proposed new reforms are a tax on public sector workers to pay for the banking crisis and this government’s failure to generate economic growth.
“The lowest paid and people 10 years from retirement will be protected, and public service pensions will still be among the very best available.”
Reality:
The lowest paid will not be protected – they will still be forced to work longer (up to 68) and suffer the indexation changes which will devalue their pension. The government has said that workers earning less than £15,000 (FTE) will not pay any extra contributions – this protection only covers 4% of PCS members.
Those within 10 years of retirement still face paying higher contributions equivalent to nearly a day’s pay every month (an extra £63.36 a month for the average member), and will lose over £16,000 in retirement as their pension will be uprated by the lower CPI measure of inflation rather than RPI.
Government claim:
“I have listened to the argument that those closest to retirement should not have to face any change at all. That is the approach that has been taken over the years in relation to increases to the state pension age, and I think it is fair to apply that here too.”
Reality:
This is the government’s main selling point of the new offer – and it is not true. Those within 10 years of retirement (i.e. 50-plus in Classic or Premium or 55-plus in nuvos) will still face extra pensions contributions of 3.2% (£63.36 a month for the average member) between now and retirement.
In addition, their pension will still be downgraded in value due to the indexation change from RPI to CPI. This alone would cost the average PCS member £16,400 over a 20 year retirement.
While this is only a partial concession for older workers, it is of no benefit at all to the majority of civil servants who are under 50 (or 55 in nuvos). PCS continues to seek a negotiated settlement in the interests of our whole membership, and future generations.
Government claim:
“Our objective is to put in place new schemes that are affordable and fair for taxpayers and public service workers, and that can be sustained for decades to come.”
Reality:
Public sector pensions already are affordable, due to the reforms we agreed in 2007. The Hutton report shows the costs of public sector pensions falling. The National Audit Office assessed our pensions schemes in December 2010 and found the 2007 deal “reduces costs to taxpayers by 14 per cent”.
The Public Accounts Committee found in May 2011, “the Treasury has not set out clearly what level of spending it considers sustainable in the long term. Instead, officials appeared to define affordability on the basis of public perception” – which is why they are keen to present a false impression to the public about our pensions.
Again the government is trying to create a false divide between public sector workers and taxpayers. Public sector workers are taxpayers too. If pensions are slashed then the cost will still be borne by taxpayers, through increased claims for means-tested benefits in retirement.
Government claim:
“Everything that public servants have earned until the point of change, they will keep, and those things will be paid out in the terms expected ... No public sector worker needs to have anything to fear for the entitlements that they have already built up.”
Reality:
This is not true; by imposing the change in indexation from RPI to CPI, the average PCS member would lose £16,400 over a 20 year retirement.
Alongside other unions and the Civil Service Pensioners Alliance, we have taken the government to the High Court to argue that this change was not only unfair but illegal. We are determined to protect your pension by legal means as well as industrial and through negotiation.
Government claim:
“the taxpayer needs to be properly protected from the risks associated with further increases in life expectancy, by linking the scheme normal pension age to state pension age.”
Reality:
We agreed a deal with the last Labour government that took precisely these changes into account. It meant a new pension age of 65 for new starters across the public sector. Based on the changes in the 2007 deal the projected cost of public sector pensions is falling, despite growing life expectancy.
Funding better pensions is a political choice. The UK state pension is worse than in every comparable EU country. France currently spends 12% of its GDP on pensions and Germany over 10%, but the UK only spends 6%.
Government claim:
“Pensions would remain considerably better than those available in the private sector.”
Reality:
This is classic divide and rule – and is a complete diversion from the issue at hand. We do not want an equality of misery whereby public sector pensions are driven down to the patchy and poor level in the private sector.
One-quarter of all tax relief on pensions, amounting to more than £10bn annually, goes to the richest 1% in the country. We hear about gold-plated public sector pensions, yet the real gilded pensions are to be found in the boardrooms of private companies that have abandoned provision for their workforces.
Government claim:
“reform is essential because the costs of public service pensions have risen dramatically over the last few decades”
Reality:
This is very misleading. It is true that public sector pensions cost, as Alexander said “just under 1% of GDP in 1970, they account for around 2% of GDP today”.
However, due to the changes agreed in 2007, the Hutton report shows that public sector pension costs will fall from 1.9% today down to 1.4%. The Public Accounts Committee has said that the changes will mean: “costs stabilising at around 1% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)”.
The government’s latest document, published on 2 November 2011, shows that pension costs will reduce under the 2007 deal to the level they were in the mid-1980s.
These proposed new reforms are a tax on public sector workers to pay for the banking crisis and this government’s failure to generate economic growth.
Do you need to say anything more? - All out on November 30th
I've taken this from the PCS Union Members FB site, but it sums everything up for me and is well worth sharing in any medium you care to:
Steven North hits the nail on the head: "I could argue that the reason I'm prepared to strike on the 30th is because my pension fund is a sustainable one that requires no increase in contributions, except to return more money to a Treasury that is already taxing me to death every time I fill my car up but refuses to allocate me a pay rise. I could say that it's because its unfair to ask me to work until I'm 68 when I live in an area where male life expectancy is still only 70. I could say that we went through discussions around accrual rates a few years ago and were told that changes had been made to make our pension fund sustainable for a generation. In reality though I'm striking because I don't want to die in a freezing cold flat 2 years after I retire after a lifetime in work. If any other working man or woman wants to be equally as selfish and pay no regard to the difficult decisions our Government has to make, I'll happily stand next to you."
Steven North hits the nail on the head: "I could argue that the reason I'm prepared to strike on the 30th is because my pension fund is a sustainable one that requires no increase in contributions, except to return more money to a Treasury that is already taxing me to death every time I fill my car up but refuses to allocate me a pay rise. I could say that it's because its unfair to ask me to work until I'm 68 when I live in an area where male life expectancy is still only 70. I could say that we went through discussions around accrual rates a few years ago and were told that changes had been made to make our pension fund sustainable for a generation. In reality though I'm striking because I don't want to die in a freezing cold flat 2 years after I retire after a lifetime in work. If any other working man or woman wants to be equally as selfish and pay no regard to the difficult decisions our Government has to make, I'll happily stand next to you."
Saturday 15 October 2011
Mark Serwotka speaks in Leicester about action on November 30th
The General Secretary speaks about the action that PCS members will be taking on November 30th with hopefully up to twenty plus other unions who are currently balloting.
Please do not try to view this on an official PC.
Wednesday 12 October 2011
Monday 10 October 2011
Members asked to be part of a Branch Equality Forum
The Branch Executive Committee have created a Branch Equality Forum open to all members with the following remit:
• Advise the BEC on policy issues relating to Black, disabled, women and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender members issues.
• To exchange information on developments in discussions with management and campaigns.
• To identify areas where local guidance is needed, and
• To consider and develop local strategies to increase the involvement and participation of members in the union.
The Forum will meet quarterly and our first meeting will be on Wednesday November 2nd in Conference Room 1 (floor 3) at New Walk Jobcentre. As facilities are unlikely for this meeting, it will commence at 17:15 for approximately one hour. The position on facilities will be reviewed before our next meeting in February.
If you are interested in matters of diversity and equality, please try to come along and make the forum inclusive and representative.
Notes from the forum will be published on the blog and in line with the terms of reference considered by the Branch Executive Committee.
Tony Church
Branch Vice-Chair
• Advise the BEC on policy issues relating to Black, disabled, women and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender members issues.
• To exchange information on developments in discussions with management and campaigns.
• To identify areas where local guidance is needed, and
• To consider and develop local strategies to increase the involvement and participation of members in the union.
The Forum will meet quarterly and our first meeting will be on Wednesday November 2nd in Conference Room 1 (floor 3) at New Walk Jobcentre. As facilities are unlikely for this meeting, it will commence at 17:15 for approximately one hour. The position on facilities will be reviewed before our next meeting in February.
If you are interested in matters of diversity and equality, please try to come along and make the forum inclusive and representative.
Notes from the forum will be published on the blog and in line with the terms of reference considered by the Branch Executive Committee.
Tony Church
Branch Vice-Chair
Friday 7 October 2011
Compulsory redundancies just got an awful lot closer
We've got the fight of our lives on our hands. One more reason for every PCS member (no excuses) to be out on November 30th. Redundancies for some, higher pension contributions for all. An inclusive leadership leading a united membership. We can win this!
Reckless and provocative' redundancy threat for benefits staff
6 October 2011
The threat of compulsory redundancy given to hundreds of benefits staff today is a "reckless and provocative" act.
The news, broken on the Department for Work and Pensions staff internet to those affected in benefits processing and call centres, means 350 people could be forced out of their jobs at a time of consistently high unemployment and on the brink of another expected recession.
The redundancies affect staff in 13 of the 22 centres earmarked for closure earlier this year, most of which are due to shut between now and May 2012.
It does not include staff in 20 closure-threatened jobcentres or those in other areas of the department, including staff in DWP headquarters offices, so many more redundancies are likely.
The union says the decision to announce a formal consultation on the job cuts - the first mandatory step towards making compulsorily redundancies - without discussing other options with staff and the unions is a clear breach of procedures agreed with the Cabinet Office.
It also goes against assurances senior managers gave employment minister Chris Grayling and the unions at a meeting last month, where they said all staff will be redeployed.
Affected staff in the centres were not informed in advance of today's intranet announcement, meaning they learned of their potential fate online.
With 2.5 million people out of work, and unemployment expected to rise throughout 2012, the job cuts will simply add to delays in processing claims.
At the same time, managers have revealed they are recruiting staff in other benefits processing centres to cope with demand. The union has pledged to fight every job cut and wants to ensure work is shared across the sites at risk.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "With unemployment high and expected to rise, it is reckless and provocative to cut hundreds of jobs in our benefits system, particularly when there are centres that can't cope and are recruiting new staff.
"Ministers should immediately withdraw this threat and send work to the sites at risk to ensure we have a properly resourced service to help people who are finding themselves out of work through no fault of their own."
Reckless and provocative' redundancy threat for benefits staff
6 October 2011
The threat of compulsory redundancy given to hundreds of benefits staff today is a "reckless and provocative" act.
The news, broken on the Department for Work and Pensions staff internet to those affected in benefits processing and call centres, means 350 people could be forced out of their jobs at a time of consistently high unemployment and on the brink of another expected recession.
The redundancies affect staff in 13 of the 22 centres earmarked for closure earlier this year, most of which are due to shut between now and May 2012.
It does not include staff in 20 closure-threatened jobcentres or those in other areas of the department, including staff in DWP headquarters offices, so many more redundancies are likely.
The union says the decision to announce a formal consultation on the job cuts - the first mandatory step towards making compulsorily redundancies - without discussing other options with staff and the unions is a clear breach of procedures agreed with the Cabinet Office.
It also goes against assurances senior managers gave employment minister Chris Grayling and the unions at a meeting last month, where they said all staff will be redeployed.
Affected staff in the centres were not informed in advance of today's intranet announcement, meaning they learned of their potential fate online.
With 2.5 million people out of work, and unemployment expected to rise throughout 2012, the job cuts will simply add to delays in processing claims.
At the same time, managers have revealed they are recruiting staff in other benefits processing centres to cope with demand. The union has pledged to fight every job cut and wants to ensure work is shared across the sites at risk.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "With unemployment high and expected to rise, it is reckless and provocative to cut hundreds of jobs in our benefits system, particularly when there are centres that can't cope and are recruiting new staff.
"Ministers should immediately withdraw this threat and send work to the sites at risk to ensure we have a properly resourced service to help people who are finding themselves out of work through no fault of their own."
Tuesday 4 October 2011
The Story of the Dirty 30
As part of the Everybody's Reading festival I & a number of other PCS members went to the above event featuring book readings & song.
The Dirty 30 were the Leicestershire miners who went on strike in 1984.
It is small consolation that they were right about the devastation of their industry & their communities but their story was truly inspiring.
The solidarity of other workers was there in 1984 & is still there today. We may need it in the struggles for justice that we have started on.
- Posted from my iPhone
The Dirty 30 were the Leicestershire miners who went on strike in 1984.
It is small consolation that they were right about the devastation of their industry & their communities but their story was truly inspiring.
The solidarity of other workers was there in 1984 & is still there today. We may need it in the struggles for justice that we have started on.
- Posted from my iPhone
Friday 9 September 2011
Pensions Campaign
I was at a training event yesterday on the campaign.
We have had a lull but the issues have not gone away.
The campaign is gearing up again for the Autumn. See the PCS web site Here for details.
Even more unions will join us (even Unison are rumoured to be thinking about it).
Together we can win
- Posted from my iPhone
We have had a lull but the issues have not gone away.
The campaign is gearing up again for the Autumn. See the PCS web site Here for details.
Even more unions will join us (even Unison are rumoured to be thinking about it).
Together we can win
- Posted from my iPhone
Thursday 28 July 2011
DON'T WORK OVERTIME
The ban is still in place.
The government is taking more money from our pay from next April for our pensions.
This is just an extra tax on public sector workers as it doesn't go into any kind of pension fund.
Combined with a pay freeze this is a very real cut in our income, even if you ignore inflation.
Don't take this lying down, refuse to work overtime.
- Posted from my iPhone
The government is taking more money from our pay from next April for our pensions.
This is just an extra tax on public sector workers as it doesn't go into any kind of pension fund.
Combined with a pay freeze this is a very real cut in our income, even if you ignore inflation.
Don't take this lying down, refuse to work overtime.
- Posted from my iPhone
Saturday 23 July 2011
Bombardier Rally
Hundreds became thousands as we were applauded on the way round.
We have now arrived for the rally.
This is a struggle that can be won.
- Posted from my iPhone
We have now arrived for the rally.
This is a struggle that can be won.
- Posted from my iPhone
Location:Silk Mill Ln,Derby,United Kingdom
Bombardier March
We have now arrived in Derby.
We are ready to go.
And so are hundreds of others.
- Posted from my iPhone
We are ready to go.
And so are hundreds of others.
- Posted from my iPhone
Friday 22 July 2011
Picket Duty
Up early again for picket duty.
And again only very small numbers break the overtime ban.
- Posted from my iPhone
And again only very small numbers break the overtime ban.
- Posted from my iPhone
Actions Speak Louder...
On the intranet today is a letter from Ian Duncan Smith thanking staff for their commitment and dedication and promising to invest in our people.
He will do this by:
freezing our pay
increasing pension deductions
making us work longer
slashing our pensions
cutting our jobs
shutting our workplaces
cutting support for NVQs
cutting promotion opportunities
This list is not exhaustive.
The word that comes to my mind is cant.
- Posted from my iPhone
He will do this by:
freezing our pay
increasing pension deductions
making us work longer
slashing our pensions
cutting our jobs
shutting our workplaces
cutting support for NVQs
cutting promotion opportunities
This list is not exhaustive.
The word that comes to my mind is cant.
- Posted from my iPhone
DON'T WORK OVERTIME
The overtime ban is still in force.
I resent a cabinet of millionaires taking money out of my pocket by stealing my pension & then telling me we are all in it together.
Don't help them to do it.
- Posted from my iPhone
I resent a cabinet of millionaires taking money out of my pocket by stealing my pension & then telling me we are all in it together.
Don't help them to do it.
- Posted from my iPhone
Saturday 16 July 2011
NUJ Dispute
BBC journalists took strike action on Friday 15 July against compulsory redundancies in the World Service, which goes against their no compulsory redundancy agreement.
They have faced cuts to their pensions, pay cuts & are having to face the prospects of large scale job losses.
If this sounds familiar, remember that they work in the public sector too.
For this reason, members of our branch stood on the NUJ picket line outside Radio Leicester (& in my case, BBC TV in Nottingham) to offer our support.
An injury to one is an injury to all.
- Posted from my iPhone
They have faced cuts to their pensions, pay cuts & are having to face the prospects of large scale job losses.
If this sounds familiar, remember that they work in the public sector too.
For this reason, members of our branch stood on the NUJ picket line outside Radio Leicester (& in my case, BBC TV in Nottingham) to offer our support.
An injury to one is an injury to all.
- Posted from my iPhone
Saturday 9 July 2011
OVERTIME BAN
We had four pickets on Saturday morning.
Very few people went in.
Is this cost effective?
- Posted from my iPhone
Very few people went in.
Is this cost effective?
- Posted from my iPhone
Friday 8 July 2011
OVERTIME BAN
Remember: We voted overwhelming for an overtime ban.
Management, nationally, claimed that 90% came in on the strike day. If this was true there would be no need for overtime.
They also are reducing headcount. If we have too many staff there is no need to work overtime.
To send a message loud & clear to the government:
DON'T WORK OVERTIME.
- Posted from my iPhone
Management, nationally, claimed that 90% came in on the strike day. If this was true there would be no need for overtime.
They also are reducing headcount. If we have too many staff there is no need to work overtime.
To send a message loud & clear to the government:
DON'T WORK OVERTIME.
- Posted from my iPhone
Sunday 3 July 2011
After The Rally
The bands were good, the speeches very good (especially our own Tony Church) & the company was excellent.
We need to keep fighting until we win.
Thanks to everyone who supported us.
- Posted from my iPhone
We need to keep fighting until we win.
Thanks to everyone who supported us.
- Posted from my iPhone
Thursday 30 June 2011
We've arrived on Victoria Park
The banner made it up to the park.
Hundreds of people were already there.
- Posted from my iPhone
Hundreds of people were already there.
- Posted from my iPhone
New Walk Rally
Speakers at the rally from various PCS branches & messages of support from Unison branches & other groups.
- Posted from my iPhone
- Posted from my iPhone
Picketing Successfully Completed
I had a wander round the DWP Picket Lines.
New Walk
Pensions
And finally Charles Street
Good results everywhere.
- Posted from my iPhone
New Walk
Pensions
And finally Charles Street
Good results everywhere.
- Posted from my iPhone
More Picket Line News
People have now dragged themselves out of bed.
The line is still growing.
Is this number legal?
- Posted from my iPhone
The line is still growing.
Is this number legal?
- Posted from my iPhone
Wednesday 29 June 2011
The Picket Line starts to assemble
A small but hardy band.
The cobs & coffee are on order from the canteen.
- Posted from my iPhone
The cobs & coffee are on order from the canteen.
- Posted from my iPhone
Arrival at the Picket Line
The line starts to assemble outside Wellington Street at 7.
Tony is already being interviewed by Radio Leicester.
I'll post live updates as we go.
- Posted from my iPhone
Tony is already being interviewed by Radio Leicester.
I'll post live updates as we go.
- Posted from my iPhone
Wednesday 22 June 2011
Rally
A rally has been organised on Victoria Park in Leicester for 30 June between 12:00 & 15:00.
The rally is open to anyone who is around, not just strikers, so bring the children (the schools may be shut) and bring a picnic.
There will be stalls, speakers & live music so come down (preferably after picketing).
I'll see you there.
- Posted from my iPhone
Friday 17 June 2011
Opinion: Another side to the pensions argument
Members may be interested to read this letter that has been sent to the Leicester Mercury. Will they publish it? I don't know, but I'm not holding my breath!
Dear Editor
No one could seriously expect that a regional newspaper owned by Northcliffe would take any position over proposed strike action against public sector pension proposals other than to argue in favour of the government’s position (Opinion, June 16).
As always, however, there is another side to the debate that does not often find its way into the media.
Let’s suppose we consider the position of a public worker who is in sight of the forty year qualifying period required by their current pension arrangements. Let’s also suppose that this worker is at the top of their pay scale but still earns less than £25,000 a year. Let’s go further and suggest that this worker has continually been told by their employer that the country’s financial position (not now, but in the past) meant that a better salary could not be afforded for them, but at least they had job security and a decent pension to look forward to when they retire.
Imagine how that worker feels when at the eleventh hour they are told under Lord Hutton’s proposals their pension will now be worth around £15,000 a year less and for the pleasure of this they must contribute £57 a month more until they retire.
This you may have gathered is not a hypothetical example; it is my own situation. Before anyone accuses me of wanting sympathy or special treatment, let me say that I know I made the choice of not having big banker style bonuses, company cars and share options that are available to a fair number of private sector workers as their remuneration package for doing work of a similar weighting to that which I perform. My remuneration package instead included as a major element my pension.
Let me also say that I know that many other private sector workers do not have perks available to them. As a trade unionist, I am not trying to perpetuate the private/public argument that political editors seem to love as the classic divide and rule tactic. I fully support any private sector workers trying to better their own economic position.
Your column suggested that there is a fundamental problem with current public sector pensions. I agree up to a point, but for entirely different reasons to your own. The problem with pension arrangements is that low paid workers looking forward to retirement are being told that they must work longer, pay more and receive less. Meanwhile, other public sector pensioners like Sir Fred Goodwin, former head of RBS and who, if media reports are to be believed, had his mind and other parts of his anatomy elsewhere when contributing to the country’s current financial situation continues to receive (at 2010 figures) around £345,000 a year from the taxpayers pocket.
Will Sir Fred come under the Hutton proposals? Not a chance whilst a government of millionaires who represent big business types like Sir Fred are in power; and, by the way, before someone makes the obvious point I don’t think he would (or did) suffer under Labour.
The government tell us ‘we are in this together’, when in reality their actions prove that they subscribe more to the Orwellian view that some (like Sir Fred) ‘are more equal than others.’
The fact that there is a deficit is not at issue, but the fact that it must be cleared almost at once is and so is that it can only be cleared by making public sector cuts. £126 billion worth of tax is uncollected in the United Kingdom and like your column writer I have done my arithmetic and say with confidence that if Revenue and Customs had the resources to go after this rather than facing job cuts, we could make a big dent in the deficit at the speed that the government appears to require. So why doesn’t the government seek to collect this unpaid tax?
In considering an answer, I would remind your readers of the Channel Four Dispatches programme that revealed George Osbourne’s father was moving money abroad to stop his Chancellor son collecting tax on it.
Your argument that the strikes on June 30th are premature has now been blown out of the water by the Treasury’s Danny Alexander who has said that the unions should continue to negotiate, although it will make no difference as the government has made up its mind to implement the Hutton proposals. If Mr Alexander believes that this will stop more unions calling for strike action then bluntly he is a fool. A lot of dust is thrown up about participation in strike ballots, but how many voted for a Tory government? Certainly a majority didn’t. How many voted for the coalition policies that they are trying to push through? None, these are a result of a grubby compromise between union hating Tories looking to complete the destruction of organised labour started by Thatcher and vainglorious Liberal Democrats who could never have got ministerial portfolios in any other way.
On 30 June there will be far more people on strike than just those who voted in the ballots. It will be a defining moment and will show the anger of ordinary people told that they must pay for a crisis caused by the Goodwin’s of this world who now sit pretty supported by a government who appear to condone tax avoidance and evasion. Will the government listen? They certainly would be wise to if they wish to avoid ongoing and deepening confrontation over the coming months, confrontation that is already being seen in other European countries whose workers have been re-inspired by events on another continent that show direct action can bring results.
Yours sincerely
Tony Church
Vice-Chair
Public and Commercial Services union (PCS)
DWP Leicestershire General Branch
Dear Editor
No one could seriously expect that a regional newspaper owned by Northcliffe would take any position over proposed strike action against public sector pension proposals other than to argue in favour of the government’s position (Opinion, June 16).
As always, however, there is another side to the debate that does not often find its way into the media.
Let’s suppose we consider the position of a public worker who is in sight of the forty year qualifying period required by their current pension arrangements. Let’s also suppose that this worker is at the top of their pay scale but still earns less than £25,000 a year. Let’s go further and suggest that this worker has continually been told by their employer that the country’s financial position (not now, but in the past) meant that a better salary could not be afforded for them, but at least they had job security and a decent pension to look forward to when they retire.
Imagine how that worker feels when at the eleventh hour they are told under Lord Hutton’s proposals their pension will now be worth around £15,000 a year less and for the pleasure of this they must contribute £57 a month more until they retire.
This you may have gathered is not a hypothetical example; it is my own situation. Before anyone accuses me of wanting sympathy or special treatment, let me say that I know I made the choice of not having big banker style bonuses, company cars and share options that are available to a fair number of private sector workers as their remuneration package for doing work of a similar weighting to that which I perform. My remuneration package instead included as a major element my pension.
Let me also say that I know that many other private sector workers do not have perks available to them. As a trade unionist, I am not trying to perpetuate the private/public argument that political editors seem to love as the classic divide and rule tactic. I fully support any private sector workers trying to better their own economic position.
Your column suggested that there is a fundamental problem with current public sector pensions. I agree up to a point, but for entirely different reasons to your own. The problem with pension arrangements is that low paid workers looking forward to retirement are being told that they must work longer, pay more and receive less. Meanwhile, other public sector pensioners like Sir Fred Goodwin, former head of RBS and who, if media reports are to be believed, had his mind and other parts of his anatomy elsewhere when contributing to the country’s current financial situation continues to receive (at 2010 figures) around £345,000 a year from the taxpayers pocket.
Will Sir Fred come under the Hutton proposals? Not a chance whilst a government of millionaires who represent big business types like Sir Fred are in power; and, by the way, before someone makes the obvious point I don’t think he would (or did) suffer under Labour.
The government tell us ‘we are in this together’, when in reality their actions prove that they subscribe more to the Orwellian view that some (like Sir Fred) ‘are more equal than others.’
The fact that there is a deficit is not at issue, but the fact that it must be cleared almost at once is and so is that it can only be cleared by making public sector cuts. £126 billion worth of tax is uncollected in the United Kingdom and like your column writer I have done my arithmetic and say with confidence that if Revenue and Customs had the resources to go after this rather than facing job cuts, we could make a big dent in the deficit at the speed that the government appears to require. So why doesn’t the government seek to collect this unpaid tax?
In considering an answer, I would remind your readers of the Channel Four Dispatches programme that revealed George Osbourne’s father was moving money abroad to stop his Chancellor son collecting tax on it.
Your argument that the strikes on June 30th are premature has now been blown out of the water by the Treasury’s Danny Alexander who has said that the unions should continue to negotiate, although it will make no difference as the government has made up its mind to implement the Hutton proposals. If Mr Alexander believes that this will stop more unions calling for strike action then bluntly he is a fool. A lot of dust is thrown up about participation in strike ballots, but how many voted for a Tory government? Certainly a majority didn’t. How many voted for the coalition policies that they are trying to push through? None, these are a result of a grubby compromise between union hating Tories looking to complete the destruction of organised labour started by Thatcher and vainglorious Liberal Democrats who could never have got ministerial portfolios in any other way.
On 30 June there will be far more people on strike than just those who voted in the ballots. It will be a defining moment and will show the anger of ordinary people told that they must pay for a crisis caused by the Goodwin’s of this world who now sit pretty supported by a government who appear to condone tax avoidance and evasion. Will the government listen? They certainly would be wise to if they wish to avoid ongoing and deepening confrontation over the coming months, confrontation that is already being seen in other European countries whose workers have been re-inspired by events on another continent that show direct action can bring results.
Yours sincerely
Tony Church
Vice-Chair
Public and Commercial Services union (PCS)
DWP Leicestershire General Branch
Wednesday 15 June 2011
Interview - Strike 30 June
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00h5tvf
At 00:38:38 on this is an interview I gave to Radio Leicester prior to the announcement of the the strike ballot vote. Please don't listen to this at work. All out on 30 June. Protect jobs, pay and pensions. This is not us on our own, but with union comrades from NUT and ATL.
At 00:38:38 on this is an interview I gave to Radio Leicester prior to the announcement of the the strike ballot vote. Please don't listen to this at work. All out on 30 June. Protect jobs, pay and pensions. This is not us on our own, but with union comrades from NUT and ATL.
Strike - 30 June
BBC are reporting that PCS has voted for strike action and will walkout with NUT and ATL on 30 June. More to follow.
Friday 10 June 2011
Friday 27 May 2011
VOTE NOW
Ballot papers should now be arriving.
Vote YES YES to start the fightback.
It only takes one MP or manager to attack our members.
We shall fight back in our thousands.
- Posted from my iPhone
Vote YES YES to start the fightback.
It only takes one MP or manager to attack our members.
We shall fight back in our thousands.
- Posted from my iPhone
Monday 23 May 2011
Vote Yes for the Alternative
PCS Conference voted to go ahead with a ballot for action in defence of jobs, pay & pensions.
You will get your ballot paper by the end of the week.
Go to your site meeting (see your site rep for details), read the PCS web site & vote YES, YES.
VOTE YES FOR THE ALTERNATIVE
- Posted from my iPhone
Friday 20 May 2011
End of Conference
Kevin McHugh gave the vote of thanks & conference is over for another year.
The hard work begins as we build support for a massive yes vote in our strike.
Together we can win.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
The hard work begins as we build support for a massive yes vote in our strike.
Together we can win.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Guillotine Section Results
All motions were carried.
Motion A540
This motion calls for support for members transferred to NDPBs & to oppose any further transfers.
Motion A53
This motion calls for a campaign against fuel poverty.
Motion A128
This motion calls for our electoral systems to be reviewed to try & increase participation.
Motion A548
This motion calls for PCS to work with the Welsh Assembly & Scottish Parliament to try & fight cuts.
Motion A84
This motions calls for the reinstatement of the Civil Service Appeal Board.
Motion A20
This motion calls for further protection for members under secondary TUPE transfers.
Motion A138
This motion calls for solidarity for public sector workers in Wisconsin.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A540
This motion calls for support for members transferred to NDPBs & to oppose any further transfers.
Motion A53
This motion calls for a campaign against fuel poverty.
Motion A128
This motion calls for our electoral systems to be reviewed to try & increase participation.
Motion A548
This motion calls for PCS to work with the Welsh Assembly & Scottish Parliament to try & fight cuts.
Motion A84
This motions calls for the reinstatement of the Civil Service Appeal Board.
Motion A20
This motion calls for further protection for members under secondary TUPE transfers.
Motion A138
This motion calls for solidarity for public sector workers in Wisconsin.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Guillotine Section
I'll report back as before when I have time to catch up.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A142
This motion calls for a ballot of all members to allow PCS in exceptional circumstances to stand candidates in elections.
The mandating meeting agreed to vote in favour so our delegation did so.
The motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
The mandating meeting agreed to vote in favour so our delegation did so.
The motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A141
This motion calls On the TUC to co-ordinate campaigns & action & to pursue joint agreements with other unions.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Len McCluskey
The General Secretary of Britain's largest union, Unite, addressed the conference.
The accord between PCS & Unite was signed in front of conference.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
The accord between PCS & Unite was signed in front of conference.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A137
This motion calls for a campaign of opposition to public sector cuts in Cuba.
This motion was remitted as it was not believed to be an accurate representation of the situation in Cuba.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was remitted as it was not believed to be an accurate representation of the situation in Cuba.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A135, A544 & A136
Motion A135 calls for support of the Tunisian uprising, motion A544 calls for opposition to military intervention in Libya & motion A136 calls for continued support for Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
All 3 motions were carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
All 3 motions were carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A552 & A131
Motion A552 & A131 call for continued affiliation to & disaffiliation from Abortion Rights Campaign.
Motion A552 was carried so motion A131 fell.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A552 was carried so motion A131 fell.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A130
This motion calls for affiliation to Black Activists Rising Against Cuts (BARAC).
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Conference Friday
Delegates drag themselves in.
The West Pier looking bleakly beautiful in the bright morning sunshine.
Time for business.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
The West Pier looking bleakly beautiful in the bright morning sunshine.
Time for business.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Thursday 19 May 2011
Motion A122
This motion calls for a review of the branch delegation formula at group & national conference, future venue & conference arrangements.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A121
This motion calls for time off for trade union speakers in schools as part of the government's citizenship agenda.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A120
This motion calls for structures to be set up by the NEC to defend victimised reps.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motions A118 & A119
Motion A118 calls for the NEC to create a new civil service trade union co-ordinating body to replace CCSU.
Motion A119 criticises the NEC for not explaining or consulting about the abolition.
PCS withdrew from CCSU after going into negotiations about the changes to CSCS. At the pre-meeting a common line was agreed to oppose the changes but at the meeting it became clear that the other unions had agreed to the changes behind the back of PCS.
From that moment there was no further prospect of CCSU continuing.
Motion A118 was carried so A119 fell.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A119 criticises the NEC for not explaining or consulting about the abolition.
PCS withdrew from CCSU after going into negotiations about the changes to CSCS. At the pre-meeting a common line was agreed to oppose the changes but at the meeting it became clear that the other unions had agreed to the changes behind the back of PCS.
From that moment there was no further prospect of CCSU continuing.
Motion A118 was carried so A119 fell.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Organising Strategy
The strategy was launched.
It is obviously crucial that we maximise our membership & educate them for the struggle to come.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
It is obviously crucial that we maximise our membership & educate them for the struggle to come.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
John McDonnell MP
The chair of the PCS Parliamentary Group gave his usual rousing speech.
Inspiring stuff & a standing ovation.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Inspiring stuff & a standing ovation.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A116
This motion calls for opposition to outsourcing the Walking for Health to the voluntary sector.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A115
This motion calls for opposition to the privatisation of National Nature Reserves by Natural England.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A114
This motion calls for a subsidy of the Green Deal so that people pay only for installation.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A103
This motion calls for a system of reallocating votes when a candidate has already been elected to another position.
It allows people to stand for several positions & could get extremely complicated.
This motion was lost.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
It allows people to stand for several positions & could get extremely complicated.
This motion was lost.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A102
This motion calls for all branches to have a minimum of 2 delegates.
This would give smaller branches a very disproportionate voice.
This motion was lost.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This would give smaller branches a very disproportionate voice.
This motion was lost.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A101
This motion calls for higher numbers of delegates to conference.
Unless we lose our campaign against job losses we would not be able to find a UK venue large enough & it could increase the cost of conference considerably.
This motion was lost.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Unless we lose our campaign against job losses we would not be able to find a UK venue large enough & it could increase the cost of conference considerably.
This motion was lost.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A97
This motion calls for moving to maximum of pay scales after one year.
Some members in other departments already get max from day one of employment so PCS would have to campaign to stop this if the motion was carried.
For this reason the motion was remitted.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Some members in other departments already get max from day one of employment so PCS would have to campaign to stop this if the motion was carried.
For this reason the motion was remitted.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A96
The pay freeze applies to staff earning over £21,000 which is pro rata for part-time staff.
This motion calls for this not to apply which would result in part-time staff earning a higher hourly rate than full-time staff & maybe, in time, could mean earning the same as full-time staff for doing fewer hours.
The motion was remitted.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion calls for this not to apply which would result in part-time staff earning a higher hourly rate than full-time staff & maybe, in time, could mean earning the same as full-time staff for doing fewer hours.
The motion was remitted.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A95
This motion calls for renewal of a London pay claim.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A94
This motion calls for an end to the pay freeze, where possible in a cross public sector campaign.
It also calls for an end to bonuses & for national pay.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
It also calls for an end to bonuses & for national pay.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A541
This motion calls for opposition to a change to CSCS which changes the cap on inefficiency compensation from 2 to 1 year.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A83
This motion calls for all bargaining groups affected by job cuts to have active campaigning strategies & that campaigns are co-ordinated.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A82
This motion seeks to ensure that equality is properly considered when Next Generation HR formulate policy across all departments.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A384
This motion calls for any general HR policies to be supplemented by negotiated details & not left to local managers to make up.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A81
This motion calls for opposition to changes brought in through Next Generation HR & to establish consultation mechanisms with NGHR.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Distinguished Life Membership part 2
Some more DLMs were presented.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A547
This motion calls for support for workers locked out at the BP/Vivergo bio-fuel plant at Saltend, Hull.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motions A50 & A51
Motion A50 calls for opposition to anti-trade union laws & A51 calls for further rights for trade unions.
Both motions were discussed together & both were carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Both motions were discussed together & both were carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A49
This motion calls for a ban on kettling, a tactic used by police during protests to keep demonstrators in one place, often for hours on end with no recourse to refreshments, toilets or medical care.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A546
This motion calls on changes to tax on redundancy payments to be reversed, as the change means more tax is deducted which will be due as a refund at the end of the tax year.
This motion was carried
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A48
This motion calls for PCS to continue campaigning against the BNP & EDL.
This is particularly important given the activities of the BNP & EDL in Leicestershire. Maybe UKIP should be included given statements made by their candidate in the recent Leicester South by election.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This is particularly important given the activities of the BNP & EDL in Leicestershire. Maybe UKIP should be included given statements made by their candidate in the recent Leicester South by election.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A46
This motion calls for a defence of the right to demonstrate & to support the Defend the Right to Protest campaign.
The motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
The motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A45
This motion calls for further support for young members & youth campaigns such as joint union/student campaigns, etc.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A545
This motion calls for opposition to the "bonfire of red tape" which is actually an attack on workers rights by reducing health & safety protection, making it easier & cheaper to sack staff, discriminate against minorities & reduce pay & conditions.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A44
This motion calls for opposition to a harsher sanctions regime as it unduly stigmatises customers & puts our members at risk.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Conference Thursday
Here's an arty picture of the conference hall.
The problem is when I think that this is more coherent than what I can see in front of me.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
The problem is when I think that this is more coherent than what I can see in front of me.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Wednesday 18 May 2011
End of Day One
Some slightly bizarre votes later in the day but the first motion of the day is key to the strategy in the next few months.
I'll be back tomorrow.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
I'll be back tomorrow.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A37
This motion calls for a national voluntary levy to increase hardship funds.
There was opposition as some people (wrongly) thought it was mandatory & some other people thought it sounded too much like hard work.
Our delegation voted in favour.
This motion also went to a count.
This motion was lost.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
There was opposition as some people (wrongly) thought it was mandatory & some other people thought it sounded too much like hard work.
Our delegation voted in favour.
This motion also went to a count.
This motion was lost.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A36
This motion calls for an increase in subs to 1% & the abolition of the cap which means there is a maximum amount of subs that anyone will pay.
This seems a big increase from 0.6% with a 2 year pay freeze following 3% over 3 years.
Remission was called for as some delegates were in favour of removing the cap but not the increase.
Our delegation believed that remission would not achieve this & the motion should be rejected altogether.
The remission went to a counted vote. I'll update this entry when the numbers are in.
UPDATE
Remission was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This seems a big increase from 0.6% with a 2 year pay freeze following 3% over 3 years.
Remission was called for as some delegates were in favour of removing the cap but not the increase.
Our delegation believed that remission would not achieve this & the motion should be rejected altogether.
The remission went to a counted vote. I'll update this entry when the numbers are in.
UPDATE
Remission was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Financial Report
My original entry has been censored. I got cross about the branch finances.
The branch is drastically underfinanced which limits our ability to campaign, recruit & defend our members.
We will try to buttonhole someone from finance before conference is over.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
The branch is drastically underfinanced which limits our ability to campaign, recruit & defend our members.
We will try to buttonhole someone from finance before conference is over.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Communication Awards
These awards are made for newsletters, web sites, etc.
Sadly, this blog didn't win a prize.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Sadly, this blog didn't win a prize.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A35
This motion calls for TUPE law (which protects pay & conditions when work moves from one employer to another) to apply to non EU countries as well as EU countries.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A34
This motion calls for Living Wage rates and Fair Pensions in the commercial sector.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A33
This motion calls for reserved places on the NEC for commercial sector members.
This motion was remitted as the NEC are moving a motion later in conference to review the make-up of the NEC.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was remitted as the NEC are moving a motion later in conference to review the make-up of the NEC.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A32
This motion calls for improved recruitment, training & organisation of commercial sector members.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A551
This calls for the Health & Safety Executive to be properly funded & to oppose cuts to their service.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Distinguished Life Membership
DLMs were agreed & awarded to those agreed last year.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A27
This motion calls for Welsh speakers to be a separate group for equality monitoring & a guaranteed seat on Welsh committee.
This motion was lost.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was lost.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A26
A legal case found that a person who became disabled should have been given suitable duties if no reasonable adjustments could be made to their current manual job.
The motion calls for this principle to be fully implemented in the civil service.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
The motion calls for this principle to be fully implemented in the civil service.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A25
This calls for the reversal of the policy of the National Blood Service to refuse blood donation from men who have ever had sex with men.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A24
This motion calls for facility time for equality reps.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A23
This motion calls for equalities duties to be used to help fight cuts.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A22 & A265
The duty to consider impacts of policy on people from poor backgrounds has been removed from the Equality Act.
The motions call for reversal of this & to develop a way to monitor data.
Both motions were carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
The motions call for reversal of this & to develop a way to monitor data.
Both motions were carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A543
This motion calls for added years on pensions to be updated in line with RPI, not CPI.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A19
This motion calls for support for members who will be made redundant as a result of the MyCSP privatisation, but who are not being allowed to seek other civil service jobs.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A17
This motion calls for reversal of the privatisation of MyCSP.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A16
This motion calls for a defence of our pensions by a legal challenge, building a public sector alliance & industrial action.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A7
This motion calls for the DWP Contact Centre campaign to be extended to the rest of PCS.
This motion was carried
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motions A2 & A3
These motions call for additional actions to oppose cuts such as tax justice campaigns, supporting anti cuts organisations, etc.
Both motions were carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Both motions were carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Emergency Motion A520
This motion calls for a ballot on strike action in defence of jobs, pensions & pay.
This is the most important motion of the whole week as it will enable PCS to take co-ordinated action with teachers & lecturers unions in June & with some even larger public sector unions after that.
The supporting emergency motion which we carried unanimously at our mandating meeting forms part of this motion & our delegation are fully committed to the terms of the motion.
This motion was carried overwhelmingly to a massive ovation.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This is the most important motion of the whole week as it will enable PCS to take co-ordinated action with teachers & lecturers unions in June & with some even larger public sector unions after that.
The supporting emergency motion which we carried unanimously at our mandating meeting forms part of this motion & our delegation are fully committed to the terms of the motion.
This motion was carried overwhelmingly to a massive ovation.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Mark Serwotka
Mark Serwotka in an inspiring speech sets the tone for conference.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
National Conference 2011
We start even earlier & conference is huge.
Our President, Janice Godrich, opens conference.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Our President, Janice Godrich, opens conference.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Tuesday 17 May 2011
End of DWP Conference
The vote of thanks & closing remarks completed conference.
I am now fed & watered and need to prepare for national conference tomorrow.
I'll be back in the morning.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
I am now fed & watered and need to prepare for national conference tomorrow.
I'll be back in the morning.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Guillotine Section results
Here's the motions heard in the last half an hour of business at DWP Conference.
All motions were carried unless otherwise noted.
Motion A310
This motion calls for menopause related sick absences to be disregarded.
Motion A315
This motion calls for cancer related sick absences to be disregarded.
Motion A324
This motion calls for injury leave to apply when staff are on premises but have not arrived at their office. This motion was remitted as it calls for some changes to pensions policy that can only be amended at national level.
Motion A259
This motion calls on Access to Work management to regularly meet with PCS.
Motion A156
This motion aims to achieve improvements to the flexi time policy.
Motion A165
This motion calls for FTAs to have the right to a face to face hearing where there was a selection exercise.
Motion A167
This motion calls for opposition to benchmarks & PIPs.
Motion A175
This motion calls for more sympathetic use of flexi credits during periods of adverse weather.
Motion A309
This motion calls for attendance management decisions to be made by line managers without interference by more senior managers.
Motion A215
This motion calls for job security for band As.
Motion A190
This motion calls for all changes to be subject to Equality Impact Assessments.
Motion A76
This motion calls for the removal of anomalies that disadvantage part time workers who work extra hours at management's request.
Motion A77
This motion calls for a campaign to move from min to max of the pay scale in 3 years. This motion was lost as the pay bid has already called for progression for band A-C in only 2 years.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
All motions were carried unless otherwise noted.
Motion A310
This motion calls for menopause related sick absences to be disregarded.
Motion A315
This motion calls for cancer related sick absences to be disregarded.
Motion A324
This motion calls for injury leave to apply when staff are on premises but have not arrived at their office. This motion was remitted as it calls for some changes to pensions policy that can only be amended at national level.
Motion A259
This motion calls on Access to Work management to regularly meet with PCS.
Motion A156
This motion aims to achieve improvements to the flexi time policy.
Motion A165
This motion calls for FTAs to have the right to a face to face hearing where there was a selection exercise.
Motion A167
This motion calls for opposition to benchmarks & PIPs.
Motion A175
This motion calls for more sympathetic use of flexi credits during periods of adverse weather.
Motion A309
This motion calls for attendance management decisions to be made by line managers without interference by more senior managers.
Motion A215
This motion calls for job security for band As.
Motion A190
This motion calls for all changes to be subject to Equality Impact Assessments.
Motion A76
This motion calls for the removal of anomalies that disadvantage part time workers who work extra hours at management's request.
Motion A77
This motion calls for a campaign to move from min to max of the pay scale in 3 years. This motion was lost as the pay bid has already called for progression for band A-C in only 2 years.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
The Guillotine Section
This section is for motions which did not have time to be heard.
These motions are normally formally moved & I won't keep up so I'll update them all at the end.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
These motions are normally formally moved & I won't keep up so I'll update them all at the end.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A224
This motion calls for more timely advice in tribunal cases.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A222
This motion calls for enhanced & easier access to legal representation to combat advice from HR Complex Case Advisory Service.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion 220
This motion calls for PCS to appoint a lead for the subject of security at all levels of the union.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A219
This motion calls on the GEC to issue guidance to branches & regions on how to resist management attempts to force mergers to shadow management changes.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A218
This motion calls for Fraud specific recruitment material, members network & advisory committee.
This is important because of the changes to FIS recently announced.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This is important because of the changes to FIS recently announced.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A217
This motion calls for organising & recruitment to remain a priority in the DWP Group.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A86
This motion calls for Trillium to reinstate the guidance that temperatures should be between 21 & 23C & for a legal maximum temperature.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A85
This motion seeks to protect CMEC members from abuse, intimidation & incitement to harm our members from social networking sites, such as CSA Hell.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A185
This motion calls for mandatory facilitated equality & diversity learning.
Our delegation supported the motion as it is right to do so, and it may also keep me in a job.
The motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Our delegation supported the motion as it is right to do so, and it may also keep me in a job.
The motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A306
This motion calls for a list of attendance management demands & a call for industrial action if not agreed.
Opposition was expressed as a separate ballot is both confusing & unnecessary when we ballot for national action if the motion at National Conference is carried tomorrow.
The age specific consideration point could be unlawful & divisive.
This motion was lost.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Opposition was expressed as a separate ballot is both confusing & unnecessary when we ballot for national action if the motion at National Conference is carried tomorrow.
The age specific consideration point could be unlawful & divisive.
This motion was lost.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Emergency Motion 25
This motion calls for a campaign for improvements to attendance management & to change the negative changes recently introduced.
This motion was seconded by Martin Foreman from the Leicester Pensions branch.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was seconded by Martin Foreman from the Leicester Pensions branch.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A288
This motion was seconded by Alan Groves for our branch.
This motion calls for the maintenance of extended consideration points for staff with disabilities & long term health conditions.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion calls for the maintenance of extended consideration points for staff with disabilities & long term health conditions.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Guest Speaker from NIPSA
A guest speaker, Maria Morgan, the President from our sister union NIPSA that represents civil servants in Northern Ireland is first up after lunch.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A154
This motion calls for DWP increase & maintain support for nurseries and play schemes.
As the branch is a staunch supporter of Leicester Civil Service Holiday & would fight against any attempts to close it, we supported this motion.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
As the branch is a staunch supporter of Leicester Civil Service Holiday & would fight against any attempts to close it, we supported this motion.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A153
This motion calls for better access to family friendly policies such as working patterns & part-time work.
There was opposition as a review could result in part-time staff being asked to change their contracts.
Our delegation voted in favour as staff cannot be forced to change their contracts.
The vote was carried, but again very close.
Yet another card vote was held.
I will update this post when the result is in.
UPDATE
The motion was lost on the card vote.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
There was opposition as a review could result in part-time staff being asked to change their contracts.
Our delegation voted in favour as staff cannot be forced to change their contracts.
The vote was carried, but again very close.
Yet another card vote was held.
I will update this post when the result is in.
UPDATE
The motion was lost on the card vote.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A152
This motion calls on line managers to have the authority to make decisions on issues such as special leave without interference from more senior managers.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A151
This motion calls for HR decision making to be monitored & improved.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A149
This motion calls for grievance & appeal rights to be protected & for guidance to be issued to members & reps.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A132
This motion was proposed by Martin Foreman of Leicester Pensions Branch & was also supported by our branch at the AGM.
This motion calls for disciplinary policy to be corrective rather than punitive.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion calls for disciplinary policy to be corrective rather than punitive.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A118
This motion calls for pay & conditions in CMEC to be brought into line with the rest of DWP.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A116
This motion calls for consistency in disciplinary penalties when staff are found guilty of bullying.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Emergency Motion 9
This motion calls for DWP to adhere to the law & standards of behaviour when pursuing disciplinary action. It also calls for DWP not to publicise cases which could identify individuals.
The motion was remitted as the instruction in one bullet point could result in members being disciplined for breaches of confidentiality.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
The motion was remitted as the instruction in one bullet point could result in members being disciplined for breaches of confidentiality.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A113
This motion calls for PCS e-mail addresses to be designated as secure in the same way as gsi addresses.
This would prevent disciplinary action being taken against reps seeking advice on personal cases.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This would prevent disciplinary action being taken against reps seeking advice on personal cases.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Emergency Motion 8
This motion calls for policy changes so that the norm for mistakes which breach security should be minor misconduct only.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A75
This motion calls for the qualifying date for bonus payments to change from July to April.
This was opposed as we should be against all bonuses.
Our delegation voted against as the change only affects those staff who leave between April & July AND who got a box 1 marking (about 2.7% last year). There would also be an argument for management to settle on a bonus pot before the pay settlement so we could not minimise the bonus amount. And the real unfairness where contracts are ended before the qualifying date would still occur, just in March rather than June.
The count of hands resulted in a tie!
A card vote is being counted. I will update this entry when the result is in.
UPDATE
The motion was carried on the card vote.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This was opposed as we should be against all bonuses.
Our delegation voted against as the change only affects those staff who leave between April & July AND who got a box 1 marking (about 2.7% last year). There would also be an argument for management to settle on a bonus pot before the pay settlement so we could not minimise the bonus amount. And the real unfairness where contracts are ended before the qualifying date would still occur, just in March rather than June.
The count of hands resulted in a tie!
A card vote is being counted. I will update this entry when the result is in.
UPDATE
The motion was carried on the card vote.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A58
This motion calls for smashing the pay freeze & to abolish bonuses.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
DWP Conference 2011 day 2
Day breaks over Brighton & we are up bright & early for day 2
The large box in the foreground is our delegation's accommodation for the week.
Updates on motions will follow.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
The large box in the foreground is our delegation's accommodation for the week.
Updates on motions will follow.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Monday 16 May 2011
Left Unity Fringe Meeting
We attended a meeting after conference featuring Mark Serwotka & Jane Aitchison.
The meeting was rammed.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
The meeting was rammed.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Life Memberships
Proposals for life membership of PCS & presentation of awards to people nominated last year bring the first day of DWP Conference to an end.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A275
This motion calls for the end of the Contact Centre summer/festive/Easter plans which cancel (often at short notice) leave, training & TU facilities during periods of higher leave.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A273
This motion calls on the GEC to publicise the direct link between LEAN & job cuts.
This motion was carried
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Emergency Motion 21
This motion calls for opposition to downgrading of the initial NJI to band B.
This could lead to widespread downgrading & make promotion even less likely.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This could lead to widespread downgrading & make promotion even less likely.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Emergency Motion 20
This motion calls for a campaign to prevent delegated flexibilities being rolled out.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A270
This motion calls for the elimination of the job submissions target for Contact Centre First Contact CS Agents.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A265
This motion calls for a campaign against the Stricter Benefit Regime(SBR), particularly where it is targeted at disabled people, & other minorities.
It also calls for opposition to targets for SBR.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
It also calls for opposition to targets for SBR.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A263
This motion calls for opposition to benchmarks & for guidance on Active Operational Management.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A191
This motion calls for FTAs to be made permanent.
It also calls for further recruitment as management have already increased benchmarks so that the staff who are left can still do the work that needs to be done.
This motion has gone to a card vote as some people wanted a later motion supported.
I'll update this post when the result is in.
UPDATE
The motion was narrowly carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
It also calls for further recruitment as management have already increased benchmarks so that the staff who are left can still do the work that needs to be done.
This motion has gone to a card vote as some people wanted a later motion supported.
I'll update this post when the result is in.
UPDATE
The motion was narrowly carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Emergency Motion 16
This motion calls for a new, improved Employee Relations Framework.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A245
This motion calls for the restrictions on CMEC reps not being allowed to represent members in other parts of DWP & to bring facilities up to the level in the rest of DWP.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A48
This motion calls for Social Fund to stay part of DWP & to expose the inadequacies of the benefit system that leaves many dependant of SF loans & charities.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A46
This motion calls for a campaign to undertake a proper review of DLA rather than just replace it with PIP to save money.
This motion was carried
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
This motion was carried
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A38
This motion calls for a campaign against the green paper, The Future of Child Maintenance.
The green paper proposals are an attack on both child maintenance & our members jobs.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
The green paper proposals are an attack on both child maintenance & our members jobs.
This motion was carried.
- Posted from PCS Conference 2011
Motion A30
The first motion after lunch calls for a campaign against harsher sanctions which victimise customers & put our members at risk.
This motion was carried.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
This motion was carried.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Emergency Motion 4
This motion calls for opposition to downgrading of decision making work in PDCS.
This motion was carried.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
This motion was carried.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Emergency Motion 10
This motion calls for CMEC to remain in the Civil Service & to oppose charges & privatisation.
Child support should be about lifting children out of poverty not making money for a private company.
This motion was carried.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Child support should be about lifting children out of poverty not making money for a private company.
This motion was carried.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Motion A182
This motion calls for the Telereal Trillium contract for estates management to be renegotiated or scrapped & the service brought back in house.
DWP currently pays them £782 million.
This motion was carried.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
DWP currently pays them £782 million.
This motion was carried.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Emergency Motion 5
This motion calls for further strike action if management refuse to negotiate on the Contact Centre dispute, either with or without ACAS.
This motion was carried.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
This motion was carried.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Motion A181
This motion calls for Shared Services to remain in house rather than being part- or fully- privatised.
This motion was carried.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
This motion was carried.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Motion A22
This motion calls for the retention of The Pensions Service Local service.
Not all pensioners can access services on-line!
This motion was carried.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Not all pensioners can access services on-line!
This motion was carried.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Emergency Motion 2
This motion calls for opposition to the swingeing cuts on the corporate centre.
This motion was carried.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
This motion was carried.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Emergency Motion 1
This motion calls for opposition to the BC & CC office closures announced last Friday up to & including industrial action.
This motion was carried.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
This motion was carried.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Motion A1
This motion calls for opposition to cuts in DWP jobs & services, including making FTAs permanent.
It calls on members to get involved in anti-cuts campaigns; something this branch can proudly support, having been instrumental in setting up Leicestershire Against the Cuts.
This motion was carried.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
It calls on members to get involved in anti-cuts campaigns; something this branch can proudly support, having been instrumental in setting up Leicestershire Against the Cuts.
This motion was carried.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Monday 09:30
The Group President introduces the conference.
The picture makes it look a long way away but we are on the front row in the middle.
Posts about motions will follow, mostly in text only.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
The picture makes it look a long way away but we are on the front row in the middle.
Posts about motions will follow, mostly in text only.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
09:13
The paper sellers & leafletters are out in force.
Given recent developments, there are a record number of Emergency Motions.
We are all set & ready to go.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Given recent developments, there are a record number of Emergency Motions.
We are all set & ready to go.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Saturday 14 May 2011
March for the Cuts
So people were marching in support of cuts today.
There were about 350, but the March for the Alternative had 500,000. That is nearly 1500 times more people marching against cuts than in favour.
We are many; they are few. We can win this fight.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
There were about 350, but the March for the Alternative had 500,000. That is nearly 1500 times more people marching against cuts than in favour.
We are many; they are few. We can win this fight.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Sunday 1 May 2011
Leicester May Day March
Today is May 1, International Workers Day.
Yesterday Leicester & District Trades Union Council organised a March & rally.
We set off from Victoria Park & marched down London Road to the clock tower.
There were various speakers including PCS Deputy President Dave Bean...
... & our very own Tony Church speaking for Leicestershire Against the Cuts.
Use the Leicester & District Trades Union Council link to check out more pictures & reports.
Hasta la victoria, siempre!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Yesterday Leicester & District Trades Union Council organised a March & rally.
We set off from Victoria Park & marched down London Road to the clock tower.
There were various speakers including PCS Deputy President Dave Bean...
... & our very own Tony Church speaking for Leicestershire Against the Cuts.
Use the Leicester & District Trades Union Council link to check out more pictures & reports.
Hasta la victoria, siempre!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday 28 April 2011
Workers Memorial Day
Today is Workers Memorial Day.
It is a day to remember all those who have been killed or injured at, or because of, work.
Flowers were laid at the Leicester memorial tree in Town Hall Square.
Health & Safety is not expensive red tape. It saves lives and prevents illness & disability.
The current government are trying to weaken the legislation.
It is another fight that ordinary working people cannot afford to lose.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
It is a day to remember all those who have been killed or injured at, or because of, work.
Flowers were laid at the Leicester memorial tree in Town Hall Square.
Health & Safety is not expensive red tape. It saves lives and prevents illness & disability.
The current government are trying to weaken the legislation.
It is another fight that ordinary working people cannot afford to lose.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:Bishop St,Leicester,United Kingdom
Monday 18 April 2011
Vote carefully in the NEC elections
If you wish to follow the branch recommendation in the elections (which is entirely your own decision), follow the list circulated on e-mail by Chris. One election address in the official booklet is disingenuous and appears to be there to deliberately mislead. If you are unsure, contact a branch officer.
Contact Centre Dispute
JCP Contact Centres are on strike today for better conditions.
See the PCS web site for details, here
I was on the picket line at Derby CC. There was only a tiny minority of people going in & that included management, cleaners & canteen staff.
Please follow the PCS advice to support the dispute.
Remember, if we don't fight this in contact centres then there is a danger that the more oppressive regime could spread to the rest of DWP.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
See the PCS web site for details, here
I was on the picket line at Derby CC. There was only a tiny minority of people going in & that included management, cleaners & canteen staff.
Please follow the PCS advice to support the dispute.
Remember, if we don't fight this in contact centres then there is a danger that the more oppressive regime could spread to the rest of DWP.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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