Your message is loud and clear
Everyone at PCS should be incredibly proud of our historic ballot result. You’ve sent a loud and clear message to the government that your appalling treatment cannot continue and enough is enough.
It’s thanks to your hard work that we secured the largest mandate for strike action the union’s ever had. 124 employer areas crossed the 50% turnout threshold and the average ‘yes’ vote for industrial action across the balloted areas was the highest in our history.
Delivering a record-breaking result like this was so important. We used the stunning result in our meetings with the Cabinet Office to show the strength of feeling among members. Despite this, they failed to make any proposals that address our demands for a 10% pay rise, pensions justice, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms.
Limiting money members lose by striking
In response, the union’s NEC agreed to an initial programme of hard-hitting, targeted action in areas where we will have maximum industrial and political leverage, including the Home Office, Border Force, Department for Transport and Defra.
This is just the beginning and further strikes will be considered if the Cabinet Office fails to meet our demands.
Members in those areas will be taking action on behalf of every other member, so we cannot ask them to lose money and they will be paid full strike pay. To fund that we are establishing a temporary levy on all members who were balloted.
Times are tough for you all at the moment; that’s why we are trying to limit the amount of money members lose in taking strike action. Targeted action on full pay means that we can hold strikes of small numbers of members that will have a significant impact, but with the least possible financial contribution from all members. We all stand to win on our 10% pay rise demand if the action is successful and you get the justice you deserve.
We will build momentum further in the new year as we re-ballot in HMRC and get thousands more workers involved in our strike plans. I understand the frustration of some members who aren’t involved in our initial wave of targeted action. We’re in a constant dialogue with other unions about how we can work collaboratively to put maximum pressure on the government. Several unions are currently balloting members and some have already taken strike action. We’re planning on working with these unions to take joined-up action where possible. That might involve all PCS members taking action together.
The ballot result is a monumental achievement for PCS and it’s a crucial first step. Over the coming months, we’ll be taking the strike action that will win for all members.
After everything you’ve been through and all the work you put in to achieve this result, it’s exactly what you deserve.
This article is taken from PCS People issue 3, 2022.