2015 National Conference

Day 1

The branch delegation then took a short break after the close of Home Office Group Conference before heading over to National ADC for the opening of conference at 2pm. The opening session received presentations by the General Secretary (Mark Serwotka) and the Assistant General Secretary (Chris Baugh).

The main issue for debate from this session was in and around the financial situation that the union has found itself in primarily following the removal of ‘check off’ as well as the membership decline following the cuts to Civil Service jobs.

Motion A1 was carried by conference which endorsed the decision taken by the PCS National Executive Committee to suspend elections for this year as an emergency measure. The debate was a very passionate one with speeches on both sides of the argument where presented to delegates. It was clear to see that the suspension of elections, even in what conference accepted was very difficult climate, did vex many branches and some saw this as an attack on the Democracy of our union which we all hold dear.

PCS president Janice Godrich sent a message to members that they must pick themselves up after the general election result and get ready to fight the Tory government.

She told the packed hall at the opening speech of the union's annual conference in Brighton that members need to be "more determined than ever to pick ourselves up to fight issues such as child poverty, rising racism, demonisation of reps and unemployment."

"It is tempting to pull the duvet over our heads and feel nothing can be done. But the Tories are not invincible," she said. "Far from it. "They only have a small majority."

Janice outlined 3 elements which PCS can celebrate.

She said the union is ahead of the game with the highest number of union members who have signed up for direct debit following the ending of check-off.

The union is setting up a strategic review to look at the issues facing PCS in the near future.

Finally, Francis Maude is no longer in his role as minister of Cabinet Office and paymaster general. She had some words for him if he was watching. "Goodbye and good riddance," she said.

The president then outlined some of the important motions which would be discussed during the 2015 conference.

She talked about the proposed laws on ballots for strikes facing unions, the threat of UKIP to the country and issues around migration.

"We’re gearing up for a fight and we know we can win," she vowed.

She also praised general secretary Mark Serwotka for his work in the past year and welcomed him back to conference after his illness last year.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka stressed to delegates at our annual conference that we need unity across the trade union movement as he presented the union's annual report.

More job cuts - the Tories announced this week plans to cut a further 100,000 civil service jobs, pay capped and 60% more cuts to come have made it a difficult 12 months for our union and members.

The government has stepped up its attack on our reps’ facility time to try to undermine the union in workplaces across the UK. The moves to end check-off across civil service departments are a blatant attempt to break the union financially, and undermine our industrial strength.

He also criticised the government's plans to raise the thresholds for strike ballots but said that we can take inspiration from next week's first national rail strike in 20 years with the RMT securing a strike vote which would be well above the government's proposed strike threshold.

He also cited PCS examples at the National Gallery and Windsor Castle where members had voted overwhelmingly for action.

He said the union's strategic review would make it more able to "deliver the types of campaigns we have seen at the National Gallery and the Land Registry where we have put up a real fight and in some cases we have won."

"We need to have an honest debate about the environment we're in," he said.

Mark said it would be easy to be downhearted by stressed that PCS has a proud record of opposing austerity and injustice and will not be silenced.

He said we must go forward in unity to make sure that the Tories "do not get away with despicable attacks" they are planning and pointed to the union's success in signing up members to pay their PCS subs by direct debit - 80% in our biggest employer groups.

"Some say we should be nicer. It wasn't being nice that saved the Land Registry from privatisation or secured 1,200 Passport Office jobs," he said.

Mark also proposed that the union supports a campaign for proportional representation in future general elections so that anti-austerity politics take hold as has been the case across Europe.

"We wouldn't be human if we weren't desperately disappointed by the result of the general election. The lesson isn't that the Tories won but that Labour lost, because they failed to offer a credible alternative to austerity politics," he said.

"In Scotland the Westminster parties were blown away. Whatever anyone thinks of the SNP, what was clearly rejected was a consensus that backed austerity, Trident renewal and more of the same."

He concluded with a rousing message for delegates about the need for unity.

"We not only need united co-ordinated action, but we need common demands and common negotiations and industrial action strategies," he said.

"Let's go from here determined and inspired, and believing we can win. We need to be prepared to fight like never before. If we do that, we can look forward to the future with confidence. If we look inward, we will regret it for generations to come."

Day 2

The need to sign up members to direct debit has never been more important, PCS conference heard.

Land Registry Durham branch rep Kim Lowes said she believed that since the general election result signing up members to pay their PCS subs by direct debit has now moved to the top of the agenda.

She warned: "I know this has been debated at length but it still leaves us with a massive shortfall in revenue.

"We need to be able to have funds to fight the attacks on the working class, legal aid and tribunals. This is about demolishing PCS."

Kim added: "It is no longer good enough for members to be direct-debit ready – we must be direct debit switched. We need this process to be as easy as possible and we need to switch members as soon as possible.

"The membership is behind us. We can’t let Tories destroy the last bit of protection they have."

Kim had proposed motion A8 calling for conference to lobby government ministers, asking them to continue to provide check-off arrangements in their departments. The motion also called on the union to get members DD-ready in preparation for the removal of check-off while continuing to expose the politically-motivated attack by this government on PCS.

Lawrence Dunne from the national executive said the system was costing hundreds of pounds to administer. He said: "The government is determined to destroy us."

He added that take-up of DD was about 20% last year but has now reached more than 60% overall and 78% in departments where check-off has been withdrawn.

So far in our largest employer groups we have signed up 80.4% of members in the Home Office, 78.3% in the Department for Work and Pensions and 73.5% in HMRC. The motion was passed.

PCS members at the National Gallery who are holding their 24th day of strike action against privatisation were given a rousing welcome by delegates at national conference.

The members, who arrived in Brighton following morning picket duty, are taking action against gallery bosses' to privatise almost all staff, including those who look after the paintings and help the gallery's 6 million annual visitors.

Members are also on strike again from 26 May to 4 June and ask you to join them on their picket line on 30 May.

PCS is holding a rally in Trafalgar Square on 30 May to support members striking against privatisation and victimisation at the National Gallery.

The gallery sacked gallery rep Candy Udwin last week after senior managers suspended her on the eve of the first strike in February.

We believe this is a clear case of victimisation and a direct attempt to undermine our union and we will fight it every step of the way.

When the plans to sell off all the gallery's visitor services were announced – something no other major museum or gallery has ever done – Candy was at the forefront of our opposition and part of our Acas negotiating team.

PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka read a statement from the union's national executive to the conference backing the strikers this afternoon.

He said: "The NEC condemns the National Gallery for sacking Candy Udwin and for their attack on our union. Candy was suspended before the first strike by PCS members against privatisation in an unsuccessful attempt to intimidate them. Government union busting measures have given the green light to employers like the National Gallery.

"We send solidarity to Candy and the National Gallery members and congratulate them on the stand they have made so far. PCS has given full support to the National Gallery dispute and we will support further action to reinstate Candy and stop the privatisation.

"We all now face a Tory government and it is even more crucial we develop a national movement against austerity. The first step is to make sure that anyone who is fighting back is given support to win.

"The NEC will publicise the campaign to reinstate Candy and to stop the privatisation throughout PCS and the wider movement including a national solidarity collection day for National Gallery and other disputes by PCS members.

"We call on all PCS branches to mobilise members, and on the wider movement, for the national demonstration in Trafalgar Square on Saturday, 30 May in support of our demands to reinstate Candy and stop privatisation at the National Gallery."

Andy Jennings, ex-President of Home Office Merseyside Branch, was nominated for Distinguished Life Memberahip of PCS by the NEC to which he was elected in 2013 serving on the organising committee. NEC member Lawrence Dunne described Andy as “a committed and fiercely principled activist who held positions at every level in the union in his 11 years as an activist. He was one of the people who inspired me to become active in our movement.”

Andy was unable to collect his award in person as he now lives in Australia, where he works for the Australian Education Union.In his absence, Mike Richards, Home Office Merseyside Branch Secretary accepted the award on Andy's behalf and conference saw a short video from Andy. To view the video follow this link.

Day 3

PCS needs to be stronger in workplaces to effectively challenge our employers and the government over pay, job cuts and privatisation to mobilise members in support of our campaigns.

Motion A96, proposed by PCS vice president John McInally on Thursday morning behalf of the national executive, endorsed our national organising strategy and recognised that the austerity agenda and government policy has presented the union with new challenges.

He said our response must be to build the union in every workplace - the key to building our union is developing activists in every workplace, increasing the numbers of members taking part in campaigns, and building our branches workplace by workplace.

We must involve members and communities in the defence of our jobs and services.

John said: "It is clear we must be united against the attacks that we face."

John highlighted the success of reps and activists in signing up members to pay their PCS subs by direct debit in groups where their employer has made the decision to withdraw check-off, and that the activist culture developed within PCS has enabled us to do better than other unions have previously done when check-off has been removed.

The work done has confirmed the importance of basic, face-to-face organising at every level.

"In the last year we have moved significantly towards being the organising union we want to be," added John.

The motion, which was carried, said the DD work has identified the need for a large-scale recruitment campaign in each group where check-off has been removed, to ensure that we do everything possible to sign up every member of staff who did not switch to direct debit by the time that check-off was removed, as well as recruiting those people who have not yet been persuaded to join PCS.

The lessons learnt from the direct debit campaign have enabled us to see clearly where we need to strengthen our organisation in order to continue to build PCS in every workplace.

The national organising strategy, which was presented to conference on Thursday morning by Nick McCarthy director of campaigns, before the motion was debated, sets out 4 objectives for the next 12 months to build our union in the face of austerity and union busting:

• There will be a PCS voice and presence in every workplace
• We will be able to communicate directly with members without relying on any employer
• PCS structures will reflect the diversity of our membership
• All branches will have in place an organising action plan. Nick told conference: "The last 5 years has prepared us for the hostile environment. We know the challenges we face, and the answer is to organise."

The strategy includes the creation of a new role of PCS union advocate. These are members who will be encouraged by experienced workplace and branch representatives to help with general union work.

They will be identified by their local branch or will be encouraged to self-identify, to be prepared to receive and distribute union literature and pass on union information to work colleagues, talk to new members of staff and ask them to join the union and ask existing members to sign over to direct debit.

Read National Standing Orders Committee reports no. 1 - 5 here. Outcomes of the debates are shown below:

Finance

A1 Carried, A2 Fell, A3 Fell, A4 Fell, A5 Fell, A6 Fell, A7 Fell, A8 Carried, A9 Lost, A10 Remitted, A11 Lost, A13 Lost, A14 Withdrawn, A15 Lost.

General Election

A447 Carried, A452 Remitted, A459 Carried.

Services & Structures

A36 Lost, A37 Lost, A38 Lost. [Guilliotined motions - A289, A39, A40, A41, A42, A43, A44, A46]

Affiliations

A33 Carried, A34 Carried. [Guillotined motions - A35]

National Campaign

A432 Carried, A16 Carried, A17 Carried, A18 Carried, A19 Carried, A20 Carried, A414 Remitted, A21 Carried, A22 Carried, A23 Carried, A30 Carried, A31 Carried. [Guillotined motions - A430, A24, A25, A26, A29, A32]

Social & Economic

A438 Carried, A47 Carried, A316 Withdrawn, A48 Carried, A437 Carried, A49 Withdrawn, A50 Fell, A404 Carried, A51 Carried, A440 Carried, A52 Carried, A54 Carried, A56 Carried, A416 Carried. [Guillotined motions - A53, A55, A428, A57, A58, A59, A60, A61, A62, A63, A64, A65, A66, A67, A68, A69, A70, A71, A72, A73, A74, A75, A76]

Personnel Policy

A77 Remitted, A442 Carried, A78 Carried, A79 Carried, A443 Carried, A80 Carried, A81 Carried, A82 Carried. [Guillotined motions - A83, A84, A85, A86, A88, A89, A426]

Rules

A90 Lost, A91 Carried, A92 Withdrawn, A93 Withdrawn, A94 Lost. [Guillotined motions - A95]

Organising

A96 Carried, A97 Carried, A98 Carried, A444 Carried, A99 Remitted, A405 Lost. [Guillotined motions - A101, A102, A415, A103, A104]

International

A445 Carried, A343 Carried, A446 Carried, A105 Carried, A106 Carried, A107 Carried. [Guillotined motions - A108, A109, A110, A111, A112, A113, A114]

Environmental Issues

A115 Carried, A116 Carried, A117 Carried. [Guillotined motions - A118, A119]