PCS in the media round-up: September 2023
Highlights in our media coverage for September were our reactions to the government’s small boats policy and Lord Frost’s criticism of civil servants, as well as strikes in OCS and The Pensions Regulator.
Others included the announcement and subsequent cancellation of a strike in the Mayor’s Office for Police and Crime and discussions on AI chatbots being trialed in the civil service.
We also attracted huge interest around general secretary Mark Serwotka’s impending retirement as general secretary of the union.
Appearing at his last Trades Union Congress as general secretary, he was in-demand for media interviews about his years at the helm of the union and his opinions of the Labour leadership.
During the course of three days, he carried out interviews with the Morning Star, PoliticsJoe, the Guardian, Independent, Tribune, LabourList and others. He was also interviewed live on LBC and Sky News.
Overall, we had 799 stories in the media in September.
Comparative advertising spend was £3.7m (how much money we would have to spend on advertising to receive the same level of editorial coverage).
Some of the other more prominent stories in September included:
Civil Service World: Civil servants back union’s strike-pause plan
BBC News: Mayor’s policing office staff to strike over pay
Liverpool Echo: Court set to be closed for days as security staff walk out in row over pay
Manchester Evening News: Greater Manchester courts close as security staff strike over ‘being paid peanuts’
Civil Service World: Unions slam Frost’s ‘scandalous’ attack on ‘net-zero fanatic’ civil servants
The Law Society Gazette: Court closures revealed as security staff strike
Independent: Pensions regulator staff announce further strike action over pay
BBC: AI chatbots do work of civil servants in productivity trial
Morning Star: Courts disrupted as security guards stage last day of strike action over pay