Organising & Communications

In 2019 PCS Home Office Merseyside Branch continued to increase our membership and keep members informed in a variety of ways.

PCS Membership

At the end of December 2019 branch membership stood at 1961. This is a net increase of 309 compared to the same point last year, an increase of more than 600 over the last 2 years and this doesn't include those who have left the department and been replaced by new members who have joined just so we can stand still.

PCS Home Office Merseyside Branch continues to recruit faster than any other branch in the Home Office. We hold PCS inductions for new entrants into the Home Office in many of the work areas that the branch covers when we are made aware that induction events are planned.

Whilst every effort is made, inevitably it has not been possible to hold inductions for every new employee. Should you have any questions about joining, or want to find out about the work PCS does in the Home Office, you can explore our branch website or direct any queries here.

Whether you are new to the Home Office or have been around a while and not yet got round to signing up just click here to find out how to join PCS.

Home Affairs

This was the first full year on which the PCS Home Office Merseyside Branch website, Home Affairs, was hosted on the "New Google Sites" platform. As Google have been moving users way from "Classic Sites" our old website has continued to close down gradually, used now as an archive for our news updates published to members between 2012 and mid 2018. Google "Classic Sites" is due to be closed as a platform completely by the end of 2021 so work will continue in 2020 to migrate archival material.

The current Home Affairs website is compatible with Microsoft Edge so all members should be able to access and add it to their Favourites on Home Office systems.

Away from the office the website can be viewed via any other reasonably up to date browser and the site is rendered automatically to work seamlessly on desktop, laptop, mobile and tablet.

News Updates

During 2019 PCS Home Office Merseyside Branch published 86 news updates comprising Local, Home Office-wide and National issues. These were supported by 43 internal mailshots sent directly to members' POISE inboxes.

Visitors to our branch website viewed more than 36,000 pages in 2019 with the overwhelming majority being our news updates pages.

We continue to encourage members to access our content on systems other than those provided by the Home Office resulting in 18.15% of page views accessed on mobiles and 6.27% via tablet during 2019.

The "What's Going On" page continued to provide information on events in and around Merseyside including union meetings, demonstrations, community events and even station closures during the Merseyrail upgrade programme in 2018/19.

Leafleting and Members' Meetings

In addition to electronic communications the branch arranged leafleting outside buildings to which we could gain access during the 2019 national pay ballot involving reps, advocates and members and organised 20 members' meetings in Liverpool and Bootle for both internal purposes under PCS rules and on more dedicated industrial relations issues.

PCS Advocates

PCS Advocates are members who actively support the union and want to get involved. It is the next step along for members interested in union activity. Members who want to become an Advocate can meet with one of our Reps or a full time officer to discuss the role, and will be provided with a handbook containing more details, tips and advice about what’s involved. Want to know more? Watch our Advocates video here

You can also register as a union advocate, or get more information, by:

• completing our simple online form or contacting your local branch representatives and letting us know that you would like to be registered as a PCS advocate
• contacting the PCS organising department at: organising@pcs.org.uk; speaking to one of our organisers on 020 7810 2691; contacting your PCS regional office who will register your interest

Health & Safety Representatives

Independent research has shown that the presence and proper use of safety representatives within a workplace can cut the accident rate by up to 50%. But, to have this effect, we first need to ensure that sufficient members are prepared to act as union Health and Safety Representatives. The branch currently has 7 accredited health & safety reps and we can always do with more.

Since 1977, trade unions that are recognised for collective bargaining purposes have had the legal right to appoint health and safety reps. The law leaves it to unions, in consultation with the employer, to decide how many reps are needed for any workplace – but once a rep has been appointed, the laws give them significant rights.

Click here to volunteer to become a branch health & safety representative or click here for more information. PCS will arrange for appropriate training.

Click here to find out more about what branch PCS reps, advocates and Health & Safety representatives do.

Derek Mellor (Branch Organiser)