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.