Do we want to be United?

Probably the biggest debate of our conference to be held in just under a month is whether PCS should join Unite, the largest trade union in Britain. Last weekend, The Independent on Sunday was claiming that it was a done deal and that far from being a merger, it was a takeover by Unite. The speculation led PCS national president, Janice Godrich, to post the following on Facebook: There has been a lot of traffic on FB sites and elsewhere on the subject of a merger between PCS and Unite and the I am making this posting to ensure that the there is an informed and serious debate. There are activists of course who are genuinely engaging in the debate and are seeking information in order to come to some kind of understanding of the issues involved and that is good, heathly and positive. I wouldn’t expect any less in PCS. However it is equally clear there are others who have decided already, without any debate whatsoever, they will oppose even formal talks on the issue. The back ground is this. A few years ago when Unite general secretary spoke at our conference he raised the issue of closer working and even the possibility of a merger. PCS ADC 2013 gave the PCS NEC authority to discuss this is issue if approached by Unite. The period since has been one of intense activity for both unions and it is only in the period prior to Christmas that any talks at all have taken place. These have been reported to the PCS NEC and material has appeared in union publications and a briefing has been sent to branches. It was only on Thursday 17th April that the Unite NEC agreed continue these talks. An PCS NEC motion sets out a process in order to engage with Unite. It is PCS Conference which will decide whether or not to continue these discussions. More than that the motion sets out the most rigorous democratic process including, full reports to the PCS NEC and branches on the talks, a widespread consultation on any proposals, a special delegate conference to debate any such proposals and lastly, a ballot of members on any such proposals. In PCS the accusation that a merger is either being rushed through or the property of the NEC or “bureaucrats” is not true. Not only is a full democratic debate already taking place any potential merger could only ever take place on the basis of the most thorough democratic discussion throughout the union and on the basis on a democratic “Triple Lock” as outlined above i.e., consultation, special conference and ballot. It has been suggested that any PCS NEC member who has not mentioned the merger and stated their “position” in their election address should not be supported. How could anyone have a position at the stage when the terms of the proposals have not been discussed or set out to express an opinion on? For the record Left Unity itself has no position on the merger other than engage in talks. How could it have? LU will decide its position in the course of the debate. It would however be entirely disingenuous to suggest this is an a “neutral” take it or leave type exercise. There is enormous potential for building maximum solidarity and unity in fighting austerity and the relentless attacks on the public sector and a clear industrial logic in building a campaigning public sector group that can, within the context of the biggest union in the UK, coordinate a fightback on pay, pensions and privatisation and terms and conditions. But any such merger could only take place if we can maintain the fighting, democratic campaigning traditions of PCS. That will mean getting it right on the key issues of political representation and our democratic structures within Unite, particularly as far as our branch and group structures are concerned. Of course, it is also correct to say that differences between a union of 240,000 members and a union with over 2million members will form part of the discussions. Only proposals resulting from formal talks will allow us to decide whether or not this can be achieved. I believe a merger could be a good thing in building a real force to defend the interests of our members and our class. But not at any price. We can only decide on the basis of a full democratic discussion. So why are some people trying to close the debate down before it has even properly begun. Well, of course it is PCS NEC and group election time and their are some who prefer to attack the most campaigning union leadership rather the employer and they believe spreading rumour and misinformation about any potential merger will gain them votes, or to be more precise, take votes away from the Democracy Alliance. Right wing union leaders who have consistently sold out their own and other public sector workers interests, most infamously over pensions are determined to do all they can to scupper any chance of a merger between PCS and Unite because they see the formation of a united public sector group as a threat to their collaborationist strategy. In this they have the strong support of the worst New Labour types who are simply apoplectic about even the idea of PCS and Unite getting together. Exaggeration?, well just go look at the Independent article by Mark Leflty, a New Labour stooge posing as a journalist who invoked the discredited ex-general secretary Barry Reamsbottom to launch an utterly vicious attack on PCS and Mark Serwotka with the express intention of destroying any merger. That this has happened during the NEC elections is reminiscent of the how the Moderates used the tabloid press to attack the left. Along with Mark Serwotka I campaigned to defend the democracy of PCS when Reamsbottom launched his coup. I will continue to defend the democracy of the union I have spent my life trying to build. I do not know if this merger will take place. What I do know is it will be up to our activists and members to decide. So let’s have a genuine democratic debate in order to make an informed decision in the interests of our members and our class. It is clear from Janice's long post that the issues are not straightforward and that members have genuine fears about being swallowed up by a union affiliated to the Labour Party and whose current democracy is not as good as our own. On the other hand, PCS could force Unite to be more democratic and Milliband's reform of Labour means that no-one automatically becomes a member of the party by simply being a member of a particular trade union. Most importantly, it might be argued that being part of Unite makes us a huge and strong pole of opposition to austerity and all political parties that support it. But the fact remains that making the decision to effectively wind-up PCS is not one that anyone will find easy, including those who might support merger. Our delegates need to know your views on this. It is crucial that we vote knowing that whatever way that is, it is what you want us to do. Of course, the vote in May only starts, and not completes, the process and as you will see from the Unite/PCS briefings on the PCS website a lot has to be done yet. But it cannot be disguised that the vote this year will be a defining one and it needs to be fully backed up by members support either way. Make sure between now and conference that you let us have your views.