It’s in your own hands

Better pay and conditions? It’s in our own hands
PCS set out our pay demands to the government back in mid-February, with a deadline to come back to us by 5 March with its proposals. After a distinct lack of a response from the government, PCS has had no choice but to ballot our members for strike action, in pursuit of what are very reasonable demands, focusing on:

• a cost-of-living rise, with an inflation-proofed increase plus pay restoration
• pay equality across the various government departments
•  a living wage of £15 per hour
• a London Weighting provision of a minimum £5,000 per year
• a minimum of 35 days annual leave
• a significant shortening of the working week with no loss of pay.

The ballot runs until noon on Monday 13 May; and for your vote to count, you’ll need to have completed your ballot paper, and posted it in the pre-paid envelope, in time for it to be received by that 13 May deadline.

With a general election less than a year away, and with - most likely - a change of government on the cards, it’s vital you vote in this ballot. The first thing we need to do is get over the minimum 50% turnout threshold, demanded by the government’s anti-union laws. Then beyond that, we need to get the biggest turnout we can, to send the strongest message to whoever comes to power, that we’re serious about achieving our demands.

After over a decade of pay restraint, for pretty much every civil servant, pay is the major priority. Even if other issues are equally important to you – like the government’s edict about working from the office for 60% of your time – your pay is still fundamental. Remember how, in our recent pay survey, more than 1 in 3 of you told us you were struggling to meet the cost of travelling to and from work. If we deliver a strong vote on pay, it tells not just the current government, but any incoming government, that we’re prepared to fight to defend all the things that matter to us.

Let’s not fall into the trap of thinking a change in government will solve all our problems. Any incoming government will have its own list of priorities for the years ahead; and it’s up to us to stand-up for ourselves; and force our pay and conditions onto that list of priorities.

Whether we’re PCS reps or members in the branches, we all need to do everything we can to get the ballot result we need, and to be ready to be able to take action if we have to. So talk to your friends and workmates in your office. Ask them if they’ve voted yet, and if they haven’t, ask them to post their vote straight away. There’s no point in looking around for a silver bullet or someone else to blame; we all need to act collectively and act for ourselves.

Our future livelihood is in our own hands.