NEC agrees next phase of campaign

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PCS Comment

12 June 2012

PCS's national executive met today and agreed the next phase of the campaign against cuts to pensions, jobs and pay will include building for mass co-ordinated action with other unions in the autumn.

Following the decision at the union's annual conference last month, discussions took place with other unions on action in June as a follow-up to the strike on 10 May.

But it became clear that the best option is to be part of a large coalition for action in the autumn, if the government continues to refuse to enter into serious negotiations. A more detailed briefing on this will be posted tomorrow.

Unions across the health and education sectors had already decided not to take further action before the summer, though Unite has pledged support for the British Medical Association's day of action on 21 June.

Industrial action in groups will be the main focus in the coming weeks and months as we continue to work with other unions nationally, including on our joint '68 is too late' campaign against the increase in the state pension age.

There are ongoing lightning walkouts this month in the Department for Transport, which started with a strike in the DVLA's local and enforcement offices on Friday 1 June.

This was followed last Friday by a walkout by driving examiners and staff in coastguard stations are continuing to take action this week, with more strikes planned by driving examiners and others until the end of the month.

Senior reps in HM Revenue and Customs are due to meet this week to decide what industrial action to take following their ballot over job cuts and privatisation.

And a three-day strike over staffing by 1,200 jobcentre staff in Merseyside last week was very well supported and successfully captured the public's and media's attention.

More plans for action in other groups is currently being considered and the executive discussed ensuring these are co-ordinated across the union as much as possible.

Any joint national strike in the autumn could capitalise on the publicity surrounding the TUC demonstration planned for 20 October, and the executive also agreed to ensure branches start planning to make the day at least as big as last year's March for the Alternative.

Public and Commercial Services Union