Members back campaign plan - the campaign goes on

The union’s national campaign on pay, pensions, job security and redundancy rights is forging ahead with negotiations and legal action in pursuit of our aims.

National and delegated talks are taking place on pay and on job security, and we are still working with other unions to tackle the pensions robbery via the courts.

The work has continued since members overwhelmingly endorsed the next steps in the campaign strategy via a ballot in August. After a 90% vote in support of the strategy, we paused strike action and ended the temporary strike fund levy, so we could take stock of delegated and national talks. 

The union has made significant gains up to now, putting welcome money in members’ pockets..

A two-year pay deal has already been reached in the Scottish Government, while in the Welsh Government a 5% pay rise has been imposed. Talks are ongoing in other areas in Scotland and Wales.

The indications are that delegated talks on 2023/24 pay across the civil service and its related areas are, on average, achieving significantly better than the 4.5% available under the pay remit guidance.

Additionally, the government has conceded that it will not make any changes to redundancy terms before the next election.

These outcomes are a direct result of our campaign strategy and the efforts of our negotiators.

In some areas that didn’t offer the cost-of-living sum for 2022/3, our members have used their strike mandate leverage to force their employers to pay up.

At a national level the union is in an intensive set of talks with the Cabinet Office, in which we are making our case for national collective bargaining on pay and also demanding that systemic low and unequal pay, which has blighted the civil service and related areas for years, is addressed.

Everything is being done to secure all of our objectives, but there are no guarantees. The union is therefore urging members and reps to get ballot-ready so we can deliver a new successful industrial action ballot mandate if necessary.

Showing that we are prepared to take more strike action will strengthen our position in talks.

The union’s NEC will take stock of both national and delegated talks at its meetings in November and December, before deciding whether another ballot is necessary.