Vote YES in PCS Ballot for Fair Pay

You will get a ballot paper soon.

See the PCS web site here for details.

Close of Conference

There's just the vote of thanks, a closing rallying call from Janice Godrich & we are on our way home.


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Guillotine Section

This was not as quick fire as other guillotine section. All motions were carried.

Motion A5 calls for opposition to turning the Highways Agency into a Government Company.

Motion A424 calls for a no redundancy agreement to be negotiated in Northern Ireland to bring it into line with rest of the UK.

Motion A440 calls for opposition to Movement to Work.

Motion A50 calls for mental health awareness to be included in all appropriate trade union courses.


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Motion A88

This motion calls for opposition to blacklisting of trade union activists.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A471

This motion calls for support of Unison Care UK strikers who are fighting for their jobs & pay.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A87

This motion calls for the minimum wage to be set at the level of the living wage as a step to setting it at two thirds of male median earnings.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A86

This motion calls for a campaign against zero hour contracts.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A85

This motion calls for a campaign to raise awareness of the use of food banks & the reasons why they are needed.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A474

This motion calls for opposition to Tory plans for a minimum threshold on people voting in strike ballots. It also calls for efforts to increase numbers voting.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A84

This motion calls for opposition to the transparency of lobbying, non-party campaigning & trade union administration bill which seeks to gag trade unions & other campaigning organisations.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A83

This motion calls for a campaign against demonisation of immigrants particularly Eastern Europeans.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A82

This motion calls for defence of the Equality & Human Rights Commission.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A81

This motion calls for a campaign against conditionality, sanctions & workfare.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A473 & A78

These motions call for continued affiliation to and disaffiliation from Abortion Rights respectively.

PCS voted to continue the affiliation.


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Motion A77

This motion calls for an affiliation to the Campaign Against Climate Change.

This motion was carried.


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Last Day of Conference

This is just a pretty picture & not an analogy that we are going round in circles without moving anywhere. Nor is it a wish to get on a train & go home.


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Motion A63

This motion calls for negotiation of a national contact centre agreement across all government departments.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A62

This motion calls for an end to discriminatory appraisal systems.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A61

This motion strongly criticises the NEC for failing to support a First Division Association (FDA) day of industrial action.

This motion was remitted as FDA didn't tell us & didn't talk to PCS when we found out.


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Motion A60

This motion calls for opposition to quotas & guided distribution of box markings in appraisal systems.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A56

This motion calls for the limit of £100 for donations & affiliations to be raised to £250.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A55

This motion calls for the PCS diary to be reinstated but for the NEC to investigate affordable ways to do this.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A47

This motion calls for support for Employment Tribunal cases where trade union activities are a factor.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A46

This motion calls for opposition to settlement agreements & training & support if these are imposed.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A45

This motion calls for PCS to supply a lawyer for supported Employment Tribunal case if a local rep is unable or unwilling to do it.

This was remitted as it could involve a large financial cost to the union.


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Motion A44

This motion calls for the NEC to look into which of our senior national posts should be elected.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A24

This motion calls for us to endorse the outcomes of the PCS special conference on Scottish independence.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A43

This motion calls on the NEC to establish best practice for disabled staff & negotiate for that with the cabinet office.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A42

This motion calls for the NEC to negotiate with cabinet office to introduce the social model of disability.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A41

This motion calls for dyslexia awareness training for reps & better support in the workplace.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A40

This motion calls for the NEC to negotiate disability leave.

It was moved by our colleague from Leicester Pensions branch, Martin Foreman.

This motion was carried.


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My Lunch

A quick coffee & read the paper.


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Motion A38

This motion calls for opposition to badger culling.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A35

This motion calls for efforts to reduce atmospheric carbon.

This motion was remitted as there was some doubt about how viable carbon capture was, but the good bits would be lost if we voted against.


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Motion A34

This motion calls for us to campaign on fuel poverty.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A31

This motion calls for the ending of the use of nuclear energy.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A33

This motion calls for developing union a green policy on transport.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A30

This motion calls for opposition to fracking & support climate jobs.

This motion was carried.


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Unite Merger Update

Motion A21 was lost so conference voted for A463 as the least worse alternative.


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Motion A27

This motion calls for the rules to be altered so the model branch constitution no longer appear in the rule book.

This motion was lost.


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Motion A26

This motion calls for a word count limit of 500 words on motions.

This motion was carried.


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Unite Merger

This section of the agenda is about continuing talks with Unite. We were mandated to vote for the terms of motion A21 at the mandating meeting.

Motions A21, A463 & A470 were debated together.

Motion A21 has gone to a card vote. While this is being counted we move on. I'll update later.


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Conference Day 3

It's a nice morning. Here's a picture of the other pier. This is not a comment on how I feel this morning. But it could be after the motions about a potential merger with Unite.


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Motion A17

This motion calls for continued support of union education.

This motion was carried.

That's it for today. Back tomorrow.

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Motion A475

This motion calls for the retention of union rooms.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A16

This motion calls for support for an activist who spoke to the press about plans of Hewlett Packard to sack workers.

As he did this in spite of PCS advice & as he refused to take part in the disciplinary process, also against PCS advice we voted against.

This motion was lost.


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Motion A15

This motion called for support for a rep disciplined for speaking to the media about a PCS national campaign.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A13

This motion calls for opposition to the removal of check off but signing up members to DD in case check off is removed.

Tony Church spoke in favour.

This motion was carried.



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Motion A10 & A12

These motions were debated together. They call for protections for various aspects of facility time.

Both motions were carried.


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Motion A9

This motion calls for the endorsement of the organising strategy.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A4

This motion calls for protection of The Independent Living Fund & the PCS members who work there.

This motion was carried.


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A433

This motion calls for opposition to the privatisation of Land Registry.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A3

This motion calls for opposition to privatisation & the resulting job losses & offshoring.

This motion was carried.


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National Campaign

Motions A1, A444 & A460 were debated together.

We voted for A1 & A444 which call for united public sector strikes over pay if possible & a continuing programme of action.

These motions were carried.


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National Conference

Our delegation is ready.


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End of DWP Group Conference

With a vote of thanks conference closed.

I now have a lunch break to catch up with blog entries & prepare for group conference.

Wish me luck as we prepare to go in again.


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Guillotine Motions

All the following were carried.

A222 calls for the core care contract to allow at least 10 counselling sessions.

EM15 calls for DWP to stop using Mozilla as their CEO funds opposition to same sex marriage in the USA.

A163 calls for the simplification of supply for reasonable adjustments as this can delay equipment being provided.

A156 calls for improved guidance & improvements to policy on injury leave.

A151 calls for improvements to procedures where a new diagnosis means the member may fall under the disability definition of the Equality Act.

A154 calls for improvements in policy when a member starts taking new medication.

A40 calls for a campaign to highlight misuse of the claimant commitment.

A141 calls for 20 minutes at the start & end of the day for Contact Centre workers to do non-telephony work.


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Guillotine Section

This picks up any motions not already heard. Motions are often moved & seconded formally & voted on without debate if they are not controversial.

I'll update the motions later when we have heard them all.


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Motion A235

This motion calls for all bulletins to be on the PCS web site in one easy to navigate area.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A232

This motion calls for equality training to be mandatory for all reps.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A231

This motion calls for recruitment of G4S CCO workers.

This was remitted as GMB is recognised by G4S.

Remission means that the GEC will take on the motion but do not have to implement all of the terms of the motion.


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Motion A230

This motion calls for a recruitment campaign in CMG as our density is lower in CMG.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A228

This motion calls for a network of green reps & to negotiate time off for them.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A227

This motion calls for resistance to downgrading including JEGs, legal challenges & industrial action if necessary.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A226

This motion calls for changes to the Decision Assurance Calls as part of the WCA decision making process.

This motion was carried.


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Motion EM13

This motion calls for retention of screens, podiums & warm phones where appropriate under DERM & no downgrading of CSMs.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A217

This motion calls for increased rights for people to attend funerals.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A216

This motion calls for PCS to negotiate making it easier to get partial retirement.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A214

This motion calls for PCS to negotiate more special leave for carers.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A212

This motion calls for PCS to negotiate policies to support foster parents.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A209

This motion calls for further changes to security policy to stop disciplining people for innocent mistakes.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A207

This motion calls for a separate HR policy for harassment, bullying & discrimination.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A205

This motion calls for the GEC to formulate a policy on completion of the staff survey well in advance.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A204

This motion calls for PCS to publicise the discriminatory results of performance bonuses.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A203

This motion calls for the removal of attendance objectives from performance management.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A202

This motion fell as no one from the moving branch was in the hall.


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Motion A201

This motion calls for non co-operation & other action to get rid of the current performance management system.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A183

This motion calls for improvements to training & operation if the performance distribution people performance process continues.

This motion was carried.


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Conference Day 2

The weather forecast is not so good today but the pier still looks inviting. But no time for that as we have DWP Group this morning & the first part of National this afternoon.


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That's it for today

It's gone six. A fringe meeting, something to eat & it will be nearly bedtime.


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Motion A181

This motion calls for a campaign for a maximum pay of £100,000.

It's a strange campaign to argue for pay cuts for other people, however well paid they are.

This motion was lost.


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Motion A164

The section on pay.

This motion calls for proper pay progression & opposition to performance pay.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A158

This motion calls for protection of the disabled employee consideration point.

This motion was carried.


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Motion EM10

The Equality section of the agenda.

This motion calls for a campaign about DWP's decision to close all workplace nurseries.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A143

This motion calls for a list of improvements in the attendance management policy.

The motion was carried.


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Motion EM8

Attendance Management section.

This motion calls for opposition to detrimental changes to the AM policies & local consistency checking regimes.

This motion was carried.


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Guest Speaker

Ricky Tomlinson speaking about The Shrewsbury 24 Campaign.


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Motion A138

This motion calls for job security for band As in contact centres.

However, as management are giving Band As meaningful work & there is an ongoing promotion exercise it is not time to ballot for action.

This motion was lost.


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Motion A134

The Contact Centre section.

This motion calls for management to stick to the Contact Centre Agreement &, if they don't, consider further industrial action.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A132

This motion, also moved by Martin Foreman, calls for CMG to not be overly restrictive on working patterns including part-time & part-year contracts.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A131

This motion calls for CMG to honour all reasonable adjustments when staff are transferred in.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A130

This motion calls for all members to be treated equally in being able to take leave in all parts of CMG.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A129

This motion calls for defence of members jobs at CMG sites other than CSACs in 2017.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A128

This motion calls for the GEC to campaign against charging for the CMG service.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A127

This motion calls for an end to outsourcing CMG work to private sector employers & then using civil servants to prop up these services when the private sector employer can't cope.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A116

The section on CMG is starting with this motion calling for paid breaks in CMG in line with the rest of DWP. This was moved by Martin Foreman from our sister branch, Leicester Pensions.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A112

This motion calls for check off to continue but if it is withdrawn to maximise the time to switch & give reps the time to do it.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A96

This motion calls for opposition to cuts in facility time.

This motion was carried.


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Motion EM5

First thing after lunch & moved by our own Tony Church.

This motion calls for a renewed campaign on pay, staffing, conditions, etc. with a membership ballot for industrial action if necessary.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A81

This motion called for Distinguished Life Membership to be presented to various people.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A75

This motion calls for PCS to look at the contractual details and deficiencies of the Trillium PRIME contract.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A74

This motion calls for help with reading glasses as well as computer work.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A73

This motion calls for CCTV to be installed in all Jobcentres to protect the health & safety of our members.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A72

This motion calls for the GEC to draw up guidance for health & safety reps where sites are co-located.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A71

This motion call for members health & safety to be protected by retaining screened areas in Jobcentres.

This motion was carried.


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Motion EM3

This motion calls for opposition to misuse of work experience to cover staff deficiencies.

This motion was carried.


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Motion EM2

This motion calls for opposition to panic moving staff around and recruiting apprentices to fill gaps. Permanent staff should be recruited instead.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A56

This motion calls for a staffing campaign so we can deliver a good level of service to the public.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A55

This motion calls for the ending of private contracts of employment schemes to firms such as A4E.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A53

This motion calls for proactive organisation so we can be ready to oppose privatisation very quickly.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A42

This motion calls for opposition of privatisation & offshoring of shared services work. It calls for members to be redeployed in DWP rather than made redundant.

This motion was carried.


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Motion EM1

This motion calls for opposition to negative changes to members & claimants caused by PIP.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A32

This motion calls for a campaign against the new appeal rules.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A30

This motion calls for a campaign to protect members jobs threatened by Universal Credit & to highlight the waste of tax-payers money caused by UC.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A29a

This motion calls for the GEC to issue a report on the possibility of non-cooperation with benefit sanctions as part of an industrial action ballot.

This motion was carried by 1 vote with 3 abstentions recorded.


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Motion A12

This motion calls for a campaign against the sanctions regime and targets for DMA referrals.

This motion was carried.


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Motion A1

This motion calls for a campaign for decent benefit levels & against the bedroom tax, benefit cap, WCA, workfare & the sanctions regime.

This motion was carried.


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DWP Conference Day 1

Paper sellers & leafletters are gathered outside the conference hall. It's time to start.


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Travel to Conference

The branch delegation are en route to Brighton. Preparations include checking the PCS Conference phone app. Keep checking this blog for updates & more photos of our local reps at conference.


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Mandating Meeting

We held the Mandating Meeting yesterday at Leicester Pensions Centre.

It may seem a strange choice of venue but the other sites were unavailable because of the works at Wellington Street or the knock on effects of those works.

We discussed the major issues that would be discussed at DWP Group and National conferences, which were the relaunch of the DWP Group campaign and the talks about a merger with the Unite union.

We felt that due to the attacks on pay, conditions, pensions, staffing, etc. that we should support a relaunch of the campaign on all of these issues and seek to apply maximum pressure on our employer in conjunction with other public sector trade unions if possible.  The initial headline issue would probably be pay.

The view of the mandating meeting was that we should continue to hold talks with Unite as a merger would provide greater financial stability, more union staffing support, a more direct route to co-ordinate activities with other public sector workers and a greater say at the TUC through an even larger trade union.  There are dangers that we could lose our identity and focus and our new structures would not be so engaged with our members or as democratic.  As any new rule book would have to go to a special delegate conference for debate the mandating meeting felt that this was a safeguard that would allow us to stop the process if we felt it was not in the interests of the members.  If the conference votes for merger the issue would then be put to all members before we went ahead as a final safeguard.

We also congratulated the members of PCS Left Unity who had been elected in the DWP Group and National elections and supported the election of Left Unity candidates at conference and at the upcoming DWP East Midlands Regional Committee AGM.

We also reported on the talks on merger with our sister branch in pensions.  When they become part of CMG with the people in our branch who currently work on benefit delivery it makes sense to merge the branches.  A circular will go out to all members in both branches shortly.

Leicester Civil Service Holiday Playscheme

The good news is that due to the hard work and determination of PCS we have ensured that the scheme will operate this summer.

We will help to put a business case together for the Playscheme to continue after that which will need to go to the CMG Finance Director.

We'll update you when we know more.

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May Day Rally

We're now in Humberstone Gate listening to speakers including the PCS DWP Group President, Fran Heathcote.


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May Day March

The banners are flying & we'll be setting off soon.


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May Day March

People are starting to assemble for the Leicester & District Trades Union Council May Day March to commemorate International Workers Day.



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Last chance for PCS NEC elections