Cuts to ESOL

There has been significant cuts to provision of learning of English for Speakers of Other Languages in Leicester. This can be a very useful tool for helping people into work. Here's our Branch Vice-Chair (WSD) taking part in the protest outside Leicester Adult Education College.


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Syria

The debate on bombing Syria is happening in Parliament now. People are assembling by Leicester Clock Tower to protest against bombing.





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Climate March

Just like other towns and cities, Leicester held a march ahead of the Climate Summit in Paris. Our branch was there.

Political Fund Ballot

Don't forget to vote YES in the political fund ballot.


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Kill the Bill

We have a branch presence at the march against the Trade Union Bill outside the Conservative Party conference in Manchester. The shameless attempt to stifle any opposition must be fraught with all the tools at our disposal.


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Everybody's Reading Festival

The Leicester literary festival is sponsored by trade unions among others. Today's event is sponsored by Leicester & District Trades Union Council. It features Riaz Khan who is talking about his upcoming book Fifty Shades of Casual. It is chaired by our own Tony Church.


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Kill The Bill

PCS is backing a major rally in Manchester on 4 October 2015. For details see here. If you want to go, PCS has organised transport from Leicester. Please contact your rep to book a seat.


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Leicester Pride 2

I carried the Leicester & District Trades Union Council banner on the parade. We arrived on Vicky Park for the festivities.


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Leicester Pride

The marchers are assembling at Curve. Say hello if you see me.


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Unite Community branch action - 17 August 2015

Please see the below, which is from the Leicester Unite Community branch. Any protest tomorrow outside Charles Street, New Walk or Wellington Street is against government welfare reform policy (which PCS also opposes) and not PCS members. We ask for mutual respect as union members.
Our event is all planned for Mon 17th, 09:30 at the offices of the British Psychological Society, 48 Princess Road East. We will be seeing off the team who are heading off for a five day walk down to London to raise concerns regarding social policies that are causing emotional harm to the most vulnerable. We will then be moving on to local Jobcentres to protest against the Tory Welfare Bill and the countless deaths related to Benefit Sanctions. We have volunteers to speak, read out details of specific victim cases, and we have a Piper who will be piping a lament, twinned with a Remembrance silence. Please attend if possible, the more people available, and the more visible we are for this event, the better.

A Trade Unionist on Holiday

Tony has gone to Rome but he managed to find a TU demonstration. We all get leave from work but some of us are trade unionists 24/7 & 365 days a year.


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Women Chainmakers Festival

I'm in Cradley Heath. It's a TUC event to commemorate a strike in 1910.





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Suspicious Package

An incident involving a suspicious package occurred at a Leicester jobcentre this week. The building was evacuated and advice taken from the police. The police advised two members of staff (both PCS members) to open the package (a rucksack) to discover the contents. In the event, the rucksack was found to contain clothing items and cosmetics, which is extremely fortunate for our two members concerned.

 

In a week following a number of terrorist incidents (including in Tunisia), PCS find this police advice to be bizarre and potentially fatal. We have asked senior management in the WSD district to raise this with the police for an explanation.

 

Until we receive that explanation, PCS advises members to refuse to engage with any suspicious item. We are not trained to identify what could be deadly and what is not and it is certainly in no-ones job description that we put lives at risk in this way. 

 

If we receive further information that alters this advice, we will issue another message to you.

Central England Group Work Services Meeting

PCS met with Central England Group (CEG) management on 18 June 2015 to discuss various issues. Here are some highlights.

We raised the issue of a member who had been badly treated as a result of voicing criticism on a telekit. CEG management were clear that they welcome frank and open discussion, raising of issues and questioning policies. This will be stated in future calls.

We were concerned about consultation at all levels as it can be patchy. We would try and improve at CEG level and district managers would be reminded of their duty to consult at district level.

We discussed changes to job roles that we had not been consulted about.

We discussed the Employer Adviser role as we were concerned that this job role was being phased out. CEG management assured us that this was not the case.

We discussed workforce planning. 924 people are leaving CEG WSD on VES mostly at band B. CEG is also overspending on staffing costs. There will also be significant reductions in the Flexible Support Fund. PCS will shortly be discussing plans at district level to address the probable imbalance of grades and incorrect numbers of staff in the wrong location. The temporary solution will be TDA and, when the full situation is clearer, a business case will be submitted for permanent promotion. PCS asked for as fair and open a process as possible for the TDA and CEG management said this would mostly be by expressions of interest and a competency based selection.

We discussed flexible ways of working. CEG management said that the Work Coach Delivery Model made some changes but we would need to manage the delivery of the business with the staff that we had.  This may involve more group sessions and flexible ways of working but should not involve large numbers of staff working 10 miles down the road or being asked to work 15 hour days. CEG management agreed to circulate a Health and Safety note to district managers to remind them to keep within the maximum capacity of the office.

Annual leave will be granted following national policy and there are no more restrictive policies in place.

We were concerned that IS claimants were being inappropriately sanctioned.

We will be getting a full list of sites co-located or where discussions are starting.

We were concerned that a certain office was referring claimants direct to a private partner organisation rather than going through the normal benefit process. This will not be happening.

We discussed HEO development centres again. Any HEOs given a PIP as a result of the day will have this removed. Feedback to PCS suggests that HEOs thought that the award of golden tickets to higher scorers was divisive and inflammatory.

Pay Meetings

Here are the meetings we have sorted. I'll try and update the list to fill in the gaps as soon as I know.



All meetings are 30 minutes. You can attend one.



Charles St Jobcentre - Friday 03/07/15 at 11:00 & 14:00



Coalville Jobcentre - Monday 29/06/15 at 10:00 & 11:00



Hinckley Jobcentre - Tuesday 30/06/15 at 14:00



Loughborough Jobcentre - Monday 29/06/15 at 12:30 & 13:30



Market Harborough Jobcentre - 25/06/15



Melton Mowbray Jobcentre - Tuesday 30/06/15 in morning. Time to be confirmed



New Walk Jobcentre - Thursday 02/07/15 at 09:30, 12:30, 13:30 & 16:00



Wellington Street (CMG, Jobcentre & strays) -  Thursday 25/06/15 at 10:30, 11:30, 13:30 & 14:30

March Against Austerity

It's rammed outside the Bank of England but we're nearly ready to set off.





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Work Services Employee Relations Informal Meeting 4 June 2015

PCS reps from our branch met with the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire District Manager with our colleagues from the PCS Northamptonshire Branch.

1.    District Performance – Performance very high even with all the changes being implemented.

TU asked why, if performance was so high, the percentage of staff getting a Final Box Marking of 1 was not higher. The District Manager replied that maybe this was due to raising expectations across the department.

2.    Risk Assessments for Work Experience – The District Manager gave assurances that the correct Keeping Safe training was being given for all Work Experience starts in the district. TU said they knew of offices where this had simply not been the case until incidents had happened which had forced the hands of the management and that this was not the way that Risk Assessments should be implemented.

 

3.    Part Time Hours For Staff Approaching 60 – The District Manager gave assurance that every case where a member of staff had requested part time hours and/or semi-retirement was taken on its own merit and that there is no blanket ban on changing working patterns.

 

4.    Management to provide TU with figures on extent of TDA across the district and whether or not this TDA is being properly advertised and vacancies properly filled in a fair and open manner.

National Gallery Dispute

I've joined the picket line & protest in Trafalgar Square. No privatisation, no victimisation. Reinstate sacked PCS rep Candy Udwin.


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Conference Aftermath

Sapna is making friends with our national president.


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Close of Conference

Votes of thanks and it's all over for this year.

It's time to leave and carry out the policies we have just adopted.


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Guillotine Motion Section

The following were all carried in the guillotine section.

A30 calls for support for local fights against office closures such as at Garston.

A31 calls for a campaign to highlight abuses by firms when they introduce the living wage.

A52 calls for opposition to TTIP highlighting the environmental concerns.

A54 calls for fairer funding to a devolved Wales.

A56 calls for closer links with ARMS, NPC and for better pension provision.

A416 calls for a continuation of the Tax Justice Campaign.





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Guillotine Section

I will update when all motions have been heard.


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A117

This motion calls for a campaign to raise awareness of the impact of agriculture on climate change.

The motion was carried.


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A116

This motion calls for divestment in fossil fuels and investment in renewables.

The motion was carried.


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A115

This motion calls for an increase y our campaigning on green issues.

The motion was carried.


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A107

This motion calls for more support for Syrian refugees.

The motion was carried.


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A106

This motion calls for opposition to militarism and civil war in Ukraine.

The motion was carried.


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A105

This motion calls for PCS to work with SYRIZA.

The motion was carried.


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A446

This motion calls for building links with the Black Lives Matter campaign in the USA. The campaign is concerned with the recent killing of a number of black citizens by police officers.

The motion was carried.


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A343

This motion calls for support for Shaker Aamer.

The motion was carried.


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A445

This motion calls for a campaign to continue rescue operations for migrants.

The motion was carried.


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A405

This motion calls for opposition to running a campaign jointly with Unite Community against benefit sanctions.

The motion was lost. In our branch we checked where the events would be, notified members and liaised with the organisers. This way the event was directed against the policy not our members.



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A99

This motion calls for Branch Organisers to have access to Commix to move members between branches.

The motion was remitted so that the NEC could consider the potential legal, cost and organising implications.


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A98 and A444

Motion A98 endorses the complaint made to the TUC over Unison poaching our members.

A444 calls for an explanation from FDA about why they appear to be trying to recruit our HEO & SEO members.

Both motions were carried.


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A97

This motion calls for a strategy to support commercial members as well as civil service members.

The motion was carried.


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A96

This motion endorses the national organising strategy.

The motion was carried.


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Last Day of Conference

Delegates and paper sellers are out in force for the last morning of conference.


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A90 & A94

The card votes were both lost.


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A82

This motion calls for the civil service to address the difference in life expectancy between grades.

The motion was carried.


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A94

This rule change clarifies that the same branch cannot move and second the same motion at group or national conference.

This went to a card vote. The result will be out tomorrow.


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A91

This rule change lays out new rules for making DD the normal payment method.

This went to a card vote. The result will be out tomorrow.


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A90

This rule change calls for membership to lapse when a member is 3 months in arrears with subscriptions.

The rule change was carried.


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A81

This motion calls for a more flexible approach to the staff survey which will mean that we can boycott or support the survey as circumstances dictate.

The motion was carried.


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A80

This motion calls for staff who's jobs move back into the public sector to preserve their pre-privatisation terms and conditions.

The motion was carried.


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A443

This motion calls for opposition to the Surge programme which recruits apprentices to cover staff deficiencies on the cheap.

The motion was carried.


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A79

This motion calls for details of costs of Employment Tribunal and ACAS cases.

The motion was carried.


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A78

This motion calls for staff in all civil service pension schemes to have partner rights if they are married or not.

The motion was carried.


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A442

This motion calls for scrapping of new rules preventing civil servants speaking to the media and for staff to be able to take part in political activities.

The motion was carried.


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A77

This motion calls for MyCSP to be taken back into the public sector.

The motion was remitted as there are a lot of problems in MyCSP and its workers are members of PCS.



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A440

This motion calls for members to have arguments for and against EU membership with a view to getting a position at next year's AGM.

The motion was carried.


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Location:Russell Road,Brighton,United Kingdom

A51

This motion calls for support for domestic violence support groups.

The motion was carried.


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A404

This motion calls for opposition to the Migrants Access to Benefits legislation.

The motion was carried.


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A437

This motion calls for campaigning against racism and to oppose the stirring up of fears of immigration by UKIP.

The motion was carried.


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A48

This motion calls for full disclosure of information about systematic child sexual abuse by MPs and others.

The motion was carried.


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A47

This motion calls for a campaign against benefit cuts.

The motion was carried.


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A438

This motion calls for defence of the Human Rights Act.

The motion was carried.


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A17

This motion calls for support for the National Gallery dispute against privatisation and in support of their sacked rep, Candy Udwin.

The motion was carried.


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A23

This motion calls for opposition to the privatisation of Highways England.

The motion was carried.


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A22

This motion calls for opposition to the privatisation of The Forestry Commission.

The motion was carried.


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A21

This motion calls for opposition to politicisation of the civil service.

The motion was carried.


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A414

This motion calls for a campaign against workfare.

The motion was remitted.


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A20

This motion calls for a more robust policy on digitalisation.

The motion was carried.


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A19

This motion calls for the NEC to publicise the tactics used by Land Registry group to successfully fight privatisation.

This motion was carried.


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A18

This motion calls for positive trade union rights and to build union organisation in all branches.

The motion was carried.


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A16

This motion calls for a programme of action to oppose the effects of austerity on our members.

The motion was carried.


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A432

This motion calls for resistance to proposed anti trade union laws.

The motion was carried.


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PCS Parliamentary Group

John McDonnell is giving the report of a group of MPs that advance PCS's interest in parliament.


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A34

This motion calls for affiliation to Unite the Resistance.

The motion was carried.


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A33

This motion calls for affiliation to the Greece Solidarity Campaign and to forge closer links with SYRIZA.

The motion was carried.


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A38

This motion calls for regional committees of lay reps to evaluate Employment Tribunal cases.

The motion was lost.


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A37

This motion calls for support for sacked rep John Pearson.

The motion was lost as it calls for all sacked reps to be supported through an Employment Tribunal whatever they have done.


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A36

This motion calls for more information on the Unite merger talks.

This motion was lost as all information had been issued.


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Conference Wednesday

The day has dawned sunny and warm. Time to get back to work.


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A459

This motion calls for meetings with all MPs to argue for PCS policy.

This motion was carried.


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A452

This motion calls for PCS to organise a conference to discuss with other trades unions how we achieve political representation for working class people.

This motion was remitted as we have a review under way and we have just voted for PR.




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A447

This motion calls for a fight back against austerity, opposition to anti trade union laws and for proportional representation.

This motion was carried.


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A15

This motion calls for abolition of PCS day subsistence.

This motion was lost.


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A13

This motion calls for a reduction in subscriptions.

This motion was lost.


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A11

This motion calls for reps to be paid to attend Employment Tribunals.

This motion was lost.


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A10

This motion calls for PCS People to be put on line.

There is still a large proportion of members who prefer a paper copy so the motion was remitted.


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A9

This motion calls for a censure for the NEC as the financial report did not predict check off. As the NEC are not mind readers this seemed a little unfair.

This motion was lost.


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A8

This motion calls for further efforts in a DD campaign.

This motion was carried.


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A1 & A2

These motions both call for a strenuous defence of our union & a continued DD campaign but A2 censures the NEC for suspending elections.

A1 was carried as suspending elections saved £600K & enabled full time staff to sign up thousands of members to DD.

A2 therefore fell.

This is likely to be the biggest and most controversial debate of conference. It was fairly lively.

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PCS National Conference

And we're off. I'll update you in the same way I did for Group Conference.


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Close of DWP Conference

Bash Chilwan moved the treasurers report and Tony Church moved the vote of thanks. And with that Group Conference was over for another year.

After lunch we have National Conference. I'll see you there.







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Guillotine Section Motions

The motions in this section were all carried.

EM8 calls for Workers Memorial Day to be marked with respect in offices.

A104 calls for opposition to local variations to attendance management policy and procedures.

A129 calls for staff moves made under the Equalities Act to be available even if there are no formal vacancies.

A105 calls for a more robust referral procedure for escalating perverse attendance management appeal decisions.

A100 calls for attendance management guidance to be clarified so that members returning from long term absence are not given warnings.

A131 calls for appeal managers to be local and not based on business area.

A160 calls for effective information to help fight office closures.


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Guillotine Section

This is a section where some motions not heard so far due to lack of time are taken. As they are normally debated very briefly an update of all motions in this section will follow.


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A186

This motion calls for better support and training for Access to Work staff.

This motion was carried.


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A184

This motion calls for a study to make recommendations to the GEC on improvements to mental health policies.

This motion was carried.


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A182a

This motion calls for a new data sharing agreement so that PCS reps know what information can be shared with members and the public.

This motion was carried.


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A181

This motion calls for a legal challenge to certain cuts in facility time.

This motion was carried.


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EM5

This motion calls for an industrial action ballot in support of the contact centre agreement.

This motion was remitted as some centres are now service centres and the GEC need to work around the problems and further negotiations were due and time would be needed to build for a yes vote.


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A172

This motion calls for full staffing in contact centres, improvements to conditions and to protect the contact centre agreement.

This motion was carried.


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Group Black Members Advisory Committee

It has just been announced that our own Sapna Ruparelia has just been elected by conference.

Congratulations from the branch.


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A171

This motion calls for opposition to virtuality of telephony in Pension Centres.

This motion was carried.


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A170

This motion calls for opposition to local management initiatives.

This motion was carried.


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A167

This motion calls for WCA and other disability benefit assessment work to be brought back into the public sector.

This motion was carried.


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EM13

This motion calls for better protection for telephony staff in Pension Centres.

This motion was carried.


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EM14

This motion calls for best working practices in the move to the Service Centre way of working.

This motion was carried.


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EM10

This motion calls for safeguards and changes to the Work Coach Delivery Model.

This motion was carried.


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A159

This motion calls for continued protection for the AA grade.

This motion was carried.


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A153

This motion calls for retention of the AO grade in Jobcentres and to resist compulsory moves and compulsory redundancies.

This motion was carried.


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A149

This motion calls for opposition to downgrading of work.

This motion was carried.


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A148

This motion calls for opposition to unreasonable benchmarks and MELs which are used to try and make up for staffing deficiencies.

This motion was carried.


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A136

This motion calls for a staffing campaign.

This motion was carried.


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Conference Day 2

It's still a bit windy but it's clear and fresh. The sun shines bright on Brighton. We have a split day with group issues in the morning and national ones in the afternoon.


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A123

This motion calls for guaranteed leave for religious festivals.

This motion was carried.


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A122

This motion calls for terms and conditions to be contractual rights.

This motion was carried.


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A121

This motion calls for negotiations to reinstate flexible working and part time working in Jobcentres.

This motion was carried.


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EM11

This motion calls for opposition to the UC Ways of Working proposals.

This motion was carried.


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EM6

This motion calls on the GEC to renegotiate the policy on staff being allowed to take part in political activities.

This motion was carried.


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EM1

This motion calls for all members & PCS reps to have access to CCAS.

This motion was remitted as all staff access would derail negotiations and may mean that reps wouldn't get access either.


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A106

This motion calls for improvements to the Performance Management system.

This motion was carried.


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A92

This motion calls for opposition to a policy of automatic referral to a decision maker for dismissal after 28 days of sickness absence.

This motion was carried.


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A90

This motion calls for an increase in trigger points for older workers.

This motion was lost as trigger points should already reflect medical conditions, older workers actually have fewer days of short term absence and it's illegal under the Equalities Act.


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A89

This motion calls for a review of the attendance management policies.

This motion was carried.


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A88

This motion calls for enhancements to attendance management for staff with cancer.

This motion was carried.


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A60

This motion calls for Work Coaches to be able to overturn LM sanction decisions where mistakes have been made.

This motion was carried.


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A55

This motion calls for opposition to Movement to Work.

This motion was carried.


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A54

This motion calls for the Work Programme to be abolished and the work brought back into the public sector.

This motion was carried.


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A50

This motion calls opposition to misuse of ESA WRA interviews and the issue of misleading letters.

This motion was carried.


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A49

This motion calls for opposition to changes to ESA repeat claims.

This motion was carried.


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A48

This motion calls for a halt to UC rollout, campaign for adequate staffing and to oppose detrimental changes in conditions.

This motion was carried.


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A47

This motion calls for the GEC to expose the links between incidents in Jobcentres and sanctions.

This motion was carried.


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EM9

This motion calls for benefit sanctions to be scrapped.

This motion was carried.


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A40

This motion calls for opposition to welfare cuts and a harsh sanctions regime.

This motion was carried.


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A87

This motion calls for Cofely cleaners to be recruited to PCS and organised.

It also calls for employers sick pay for all Cofely cleaners.

This motion was carried.


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A84a

This motion calls for pay bonuses to be paid for service to 1st April rather than 1st July.

This motion was carried.


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A83

This motion calls for the end of bonuses and the end of the distribution curve.

This motion was carried.


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A66

This motion calls for a fair pay campaign and the end of performance bonuses.

This motion was carried.


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A24

This motion calls for opposition to privatisation of CMG 2012 and abolition of charging for the service.

This motion was carried.


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A22

This motion calls for external permanent recruitment for CMG rather than taking staff from other parts of DWP.

This motion was carried.


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A21

This motion calls for a review of contractual obligations in relation to the physical environment.

This motion was carried.


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A20

This motion calls for completion of AR1 for incidences of work related stress.

This motion was carried.


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A19

This motion calls for podiums to be replaced in all sites.

This motion was remitted as podiums may not be the solution everywhere.

Remitting means that the spirit of the motion can be taken forward but the exact detail is not.


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A18

This motion calls for procedures to be improved to shut offices following serious incidents. This follows a case where a member was hit over the head with a hammer & management kept the office open which involved the public stepping over her as she lay on the floor!

This motion was carried.


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A16

This motion calls for further opposition to privatisation including mutualisation.

This motion was carried.


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A14a

This motion calls for a database of G4S CCOs and to set up G4S CCO branches.

This motion was carried.


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A11

This motion calls for negotiations with GMB to transfer their G4S members who work in DWP in to PCS so we can represent them properly.

This motion was carried.


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A10

This motion calls for a campaign to get decent terms and conditions for members working in UC Service Centres.

This motion was carried.


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A9

This motion calls for opposition to office closures & support for members affected.

This motion was carried.


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EM12

This motion calls for support for reps to make us a more effective campaigning union in spite of the ending of check off and the attacks on trade unions.

This motion was carried.


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Conference Day 1

DWP Conference is starting now. I will post the results of motions as we go.


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PCS Conference Delegates Meeting

We have now all met up in Brighton & we will be ready to go first thing tomorrow.


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Conference Departure

In spite of the engineering works we are all on the road to Brighton.


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General Election 2015

I'm writing this tired and emotional on the day after the election.

I've woken up to the news of a Conservative victory. Not just winning the most seats but actually having a majority without the help of any other party.

I guess we will now see if the Lib Dems really were a brake on the worst excesses of the Tory party.

This means that we will have 5 more years of the same or worse. Austerity policies mean massive cuts to public services which will affect all PCS members both at work in terms of job cuts and more pay restraint and in their home lives. A promised £12bn of welfare cuts will affect the people we serve and some of our colleagues and our families. The attacks on trades unions will continue such as the attempt to make it almost impossible to win a legal strike vote, reductions in time for us to work on behalf of our members, ending check off, etc. I could go on.

It is not good news but we have had set backs before.  We can't allow ourselves to be deflected from our aims of protecting and improving the lives of our members and speaking up for the downtrodden and dispossessed in this country and abroad.

Today I will mourn but tomorrow I will get back to the fight. Join me because we are the last line of defence. Our colleagues, our families, our communities and our country depend on us.

Rise, like lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number!
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you:
Ye are many - they are few!
Percy Bysshe Shelley

May Day

Leicester's march and rally for International Workers Day took place today, Saturday 2 May 2015.  It was organised by Leicester and District Trades Union Council which includes members of the branch.  There were also a number of branch members who took part.

Workers Memorial Day

Today was International Workers Memorial Day where we remember people who died at work. Leicester's event was organised by Leicester & District Trades Union Council and held in Town Hall Square. There was a good attendance from our branch.


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Central England Group Work Services Meeting

PCS met with group management in Birmingham on 23 April 2015 to discuss Work Services issues.

We started by looking at staffing allocations.  These had not been broken down and allocated to districts at the time of the meeting but this should be done by May.

The allocation was 4505 by the end of this financial year. Management were expecting to still be 200 over this figure even accounting for people leaving on VES (729 whole time equivalents or 899 people). They do not feel they will need to do anything to reduce this figure further. Districts will need to manage any imbalances or shortfalls. Any rebalancing will include all parts of DWP including CMG.

PCS asked for clarification on the older workers spinning plate.  This refers to claimants and not staff.  Management felt that they had great success with younger workers and now needed to also get more older workers back into work. And an older worker is 25 and over!

The new Work Coach (WC) model means that there will be fewer band Bs and a higher percentage of band Cs. Management are hoping to fill gaps initially by TDA but are pushing for permanent promotions later in the year from B to C and from C to D.

Management gave PCS an update on UC. Managers at all levels will receive UC training. Rugby have an In Work pilot which could mean that staff would be claiming UC at the office where they worked.  Management will send PCS guidance of the procedures as there could be embarrassment and security concerns. We also discussed backfilling as PCS felt that there were instances when it was inadequate.

Management discussed the HEO development centre.  PCS got assurances that it was a development activity and not a scapegoating one.  Any poor performance on the day that didn't match performance throughout the year would be treated as an anomaly.  Line managers of attendees would support any development activities that came out of the programme.

Management talked about engagement. They want it to be an ongoing process to improve communications and listening to the people who work on the front line. There will be an on-going programme of mini surveys. The CEG manager will make a statement that staff can speak up without fear of any recriminations.

PCS discussed co-location and potential problems such as security, offices closed on days we are contracted to work, health & safety, etc.

CMG 2012 Leicester ER Informal Meeting

PCS Reps met with the centre manager on 2 April 2015 to discuss a number of issues.

 

Staffing/ Performance

CMG are reviewing the resource model for Maintenance. Discussion will be held when that piece of work is done.

 

On paper  the  figures suggest  that  the  Agency  is  3-400 over head  count   but  offices  do  not feel  like  that.

 

TUS  said  that our  telephone experience would suggest we do not  have  enough  staff , which  may have  been  magnified  due  to  the number  of  leavers  we  have  had. Our  members  are saying  that  the  volume  of Manage  Inbounds  are  stopping  the progress  of completing work  which leads  to  further  calls. We  are  looking  urgently  at  how  we can  balance out  the calls  more  equitably.

 

Plymouth,  who are  now supporting  the  country as a  tactical  solution  centre , are taking  1000 Maintenance  cases .(But not  taking  the calls).

 

There  is  still an  issue about availability and the  discrepancy in  the  numbers  of calls Maintenance Agents  are  taking.  They are taking up to 18 on some days and averaging about 10. Investigations  are  on-going  into this and 2 of  the  benefit teams  will  be  returning  to  support  general  maintenance  from  next  week..

 

Centre management  are  meeting  next  week  to  discuss the  resourcing  situation .TUS  asked  if   recruitment  and  a  promotion  exercise could be  discussed due to  the level  of  attrition at  AO  and  EO.

 

Appraisals

TUS represented  the  view  that  the  site  was  still experiencing  an enormous  change which  should mean that  we  should  not  be  tied  to  the  distribution  curve. Due  to  training  and  consolidation unless people had  demonstrated  negative behaviours then  everyone  had  contributed  to the  training  and learning.

 

Centre management  said  that  it  would  not  be  possible  to  give  a blanket  box 2 marking,  but  behaviours  would  be  taken  into  account and  there  should  be  no  surprises.

 

Stress Awareness

We had  received  a  report  from  Union Learn’s  facilitator  regarding the  common  causes  raised in the 21  sessions that  were delivered .

 

There  was  a discussion  about  some of  the  issues  and it was  jointly  decided  to have  a  small cross grade   team  attempt  to  deliver  some  bite sized  training  for  managers highlighting practical  options  for  control  measures with  a  view to  creating  a  site Stress reduction  plan.

 

Late shift review

There is a problem with being 10 staff light on Fridays. All other nights are covered. Friday  already has  a  lower  staffing  requirement than  the  rest  of  the  week.

 

Management suggested that using a rota to cover those places would be the most equitable solution. It would mean working a Friday about every eight weeks.

 

Having  asked  and not found  sufficient volunteers this was felt to  be  the  fairest   way  forward, including  for  those  that had  already  done 13 weeks of  Fridays.

 

First Call checks

TUS queried why band Ds were covering first calls for sickness. The  system  was  working  well and  in  line  with  the  revised  Attendance  Management  policies. It had helped to identify supportive measures in some cases preventing extended absences.

 

TU Facility time

As  there  has  been  a  change  to  what  is  required,  TUS offered  to  do  a  workshop  for  team leaders  new  to managing  reps or  as  a  refresher so both  parties  understand  what  is  required .

 

Learning At Work Day

We  had agreed in principle to this previously  but  agreed  to  arrange  it  for  week  commencing 1^st  or  8^th  June. There  will  be a theme  of  Learning  through  the  week  with  a  day when  the  rooms  on  floor 4  to be made  available for  various  events.

CMG 2012 Leicester Employee Relations Informal Meeting

PCS reps met with the centre manager on Friday 13 March 2015 to discuss a number of issues.

Complaints  These were handled by Plymouth but we are setting up a Leicester/Dudley team with 2.83 WTE EOs from Leicester. It will be HEO managed via Dudley .
Pledges
The centre manager met Gail Adams, the National People lead. As a result of the feelings of staff and PCS's representations, pledges are to cease. They will be replaced with business focused buzz meetings.

People OMT Paper re one to ones
There is to be a pilot to set up a roll out of effective one to ones. It is recognised they are often not happening and when they do, they are not necessarily effective. The centre manager has offered to trial the project in Leicester. This will attract some support with the delivery . Hopefully, this will help some to have their issues addressed.

Optimisation Checks We have had a few visits from a team to examine how the guidance and processes work in practice .

They have been pleased with the suggestions put forward by staff here. They are not the compliance checks that were expected.

Overtime This was offered at short notice for a period up to the end of April to anyone who had done 37 hours work for the week. This is to support the business to be in the best place in preparation for the case closure work to increase and the new 2012 sites coming on board. We didn’t ask about costs but presumably it will be paid for by the hordes of leavers from Newcastle, Walsall and ourselves (about 60).

Telephones 
They are looking at the reasons why some individuals and teams appear to get more calls  than others . There may be some suggested movement of staff on non-benefit teams where they cannot take calls to balance out the numbers. We offered to help consider job designs.

Late Shift Rotas 
Reviews should be in by next Monday . Most indicate wanting to stay with the day that they have.
The centre manager said that they will be as flexible as possible.

Car park moves in official  time

There were still some issues to be agreed  to finally resolve this issue.

PCS National President in Leicester

The PCS National President was in Leicester today speaking at an event organised by the Leicester HMRC branch. Solidarity to sacked rep Candy Udwin & the striking National Gallery workers.


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Branch AGM 2

Thanks to everyone who came, we had about 100 people there.

The food was great and our hardship fund has been boosted.

Special thanks to the speakers (I know I was one of them) particularly our (virtual) special guest speaker, Mark Serwotka.

We are now set to kick on with our new merged branch and to work for our members.

The names of the reps who were elected will be posted on this blog and this is the place to come for updates, local stories, reports of negotiations and how to get help with a personal case.

Branch AGM

The meeting is really packed. We're having to put out more chairs as it's standing room only.


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CMG Leicester ER Informal

PCS met with the Centre Manager on 19/02/15 to discuss the numerous issues raised in the centre.

It was a very constructive meeting that clarified a number of the points raised by members and PCS representatives.

Business changes

Management will issue a further communication.

We agreed to discuss Plan, Commit, Deliver pledging with the Area Director.

8-8

A full review of the late shift and Saturday working will take place.

It was agreed that staff can move cars to the site car park in official time when working late.

Annual Leave

There continues to be an issue regarding the week commencing 13/07/15. We put forward the view that this year’s situation is unique as Eid clashes with the first two weeks of school holidays.

We had raised this in our initial discussions about the compulsory transfer when asking about the Equality Impact Assessment.

There will be an announcement very shortly.

Performance

A useful discussion about appraisals putting this year’s into context with the change in business disciplines to CMG. This included an understanding of the use of PIPs and how they are managed with an acknowledgement that there needs to be an agreed plan to support staff to achieve any improvements.

Reducing Stress update

We have arranged a number of sessions with Union Learn. The advert will go out next week, and we are jointly committed to consider producing site and team plans.

Over 150 staff talked to us at the Time to Talk event. Hopefully this may have given some staff assurances that support is available and to have the conversation with managers, colleagues or reps.

 

Martin Foreman

PCS Takes Leading Role in Local Trade Union Movement

Leicester and District Trades Union Council (L&DTUC) is the local body of the Trades Union Congress and has affiliates from most major trade unions including Unite, Unison and GMB. It represents both workers in the public and private sector.    

Our branch of PCS is affiliated and we have been a leading union branch in the organisation for some time.

This was recognised at the AGM last night, 19 February 2015 when Chris Willars was elected President, Tony Church was elected Secretary and Noel Corry was elected acting Assistant Treasurer.

I believe that this shows the trust and belief in our branch by the trade union movement in Leicester and Leicestershire.

We will continue to push to make the L&DTUC into an effective voice for the trade union movement locally.

WSD CEG ER Formal

PCS from across the area met with management for Work Services in the Central England Group yesterday, 19 February 2015.

Although we are now meeting monthly there are still problems with no agendas, action points or decisions from the last meeting available until just before the meeting and therefore we don't know what we are supposed to be discussing and with who. We discussed this and hopefully this will improve in future.

We discussed attendance management and management assured us that the policy must be followed and there is no automatic referral to a decision maker after 28 days of continuous absence. If this is happening we need to know and the CEG HRBP will look at cases where this happens or any other case where policy has been ignored. The stress group will also be reactivated to investigate levels of stress and to try and come up with ways to reduce it.

Equality and diversity statistics for last years box markings are now available.  The format makes the figures difficult to understand and it is a long time since the end of year.  Hopefully we can get figures earlier this reporting year.

Universal Credit rollout is starting in CEG.  We have dates for tranche 1 & 2.  There then follows a pause so the pressure on releasing staff for training during peak summer leave is less than it could have been.  Management are keen to honour the commitment to two continuous weeks leave in the summer for all staff who want it. Leave levels of 18-20% is the guideline as a starting point for all sites in CEG. If this is not the case in your office or agreed leave is cancelled we need to know.

We then discussed staffing.  We do not know the figures for next year yet but the VES exercise and band B to C progression will have a significant impact on band B numbers in particular.  We should be getting more meaningful staffing figures in future to inform our discussions.

We discussed ESA claimants.  We were assured that segmentation should take place and a strong message that claimants should be rung first to ensure that they were suitable and they knew why they were being invited in.

WSD District ER Informal

We met with Leicestershire & Northamptonshire district management on 5 February 2015 so here is a short report.  If you want more details please contact your rep.

We discussed 1-2-1s and both sides hoped that they are taking place each month.  If this is not the case please discuss it with your line manager let your PCS rep know.

We discussed unipods.  A learning needs discussion should have taken place in your January 1-2-1 if this had not been discussed before and everyone who needs it should have done the Adviser Skills Routeway and Solution Focussed Approach as a minimum. The DEA role is staying and, although they may be doing some other things, will take a lead and remain the office expert.  It is good practice for other named staff to take a similar lead role for the other former specialisms. We discussed how this could work in practice but came to no firm conclusion.

We discussed ESA claimants coming in for group sessions and interventions. We were pleased that a better invitation letter had been produced. We expressed concerns about the effectiveness of selecting only suitable ESA claimants and were told that a segmenting process took place to select only people who may be suitable and that claimants were rung to ensure that they understood their obligations and what we were trying to do.

We discussed informal and formal PIPs.  If you are given a PIP and believe that it is unfair please contact your rep for advice.

We discussed staffing levels and the potential problems that the remaining staff may have after the VES exercise and promotion exercise especially as we think our staffing levels overall will be reduced in 2015/16.  We will discuss this again when we have some better information.

We discussed stress as we believe that it is very high due to a combination of the issues above.  We offered to run stress sessions and it was agreed that we could do a presentation to the SLT to see if it was suitable.

Site AGMs

All sites will have an AGM to elect reps and receive a short report on activities in that site.  It's an opportunity to meet your current rep and ask questions.  This meeting is open to ALL members on that site.

This is followed by an AGM for ALL members in ALL sites to discuss whole branch business, agree the annual report and statement of accounts and to elect branch officers.

The dates I have so far are:

Already taken place - Market Harborough
10/02/15 - New Walk and District Office
11/02/15 - Charles Street and Fraud
12/02/15 - Loughborough
18/02/15 - Melton Mowbray
18/02/15 - Hinckley
19/02/15 - Coalville
24/02/15 - Wellington Street Jobcentre, CMG 2012 and others

As some of these dates are provisional please check with your local rep for further details.

Branch Merger

The two old branches (PCS DWP Leicestershire General and PCS DWP Leicestershire Pensions) have now merged. We will have our policies, procedures and officials fully amalgamated by the AGM.

Unity is strength.


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Je Suis Charlie

I'm at a rally to remember those killed in the recent terrorist actions in France. We must all stand together for justice & freedom and oppose racism, islamophobia & hatred.


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