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

From the letters page of The Independent 25 April 2014

Union’s democratic decision-making To claim, as Mark Leftly does, that Mark Serwotka “seized control” of the Public and Commercial Services union is just absurd (Westminster Outlook, 18 April). The truth is that in 2000 Mark won a democratic election of the union’s membership and Barry Reamsbottom, whose name was not on the ballot paper, tried to cling on to his former position, vacating it only when ordered to do so by a High Court judge after we had been forced to initiate a legal challenge. The possibility of a merger has been suggested precisely because, thankfully, we are now a union that aims to build the most effective possible trade union fightback against damaging cuts and privatisation. Decisions on merger will be made by our members after a full, open and democratic process. Janice Godrich, National President, Public and Commercial Services Union, London SW11