Pay Claim 2024/25

Last year saw some big wins. Now it’s time for more.

National and targeted action in 2023 won: 

• the pay increase (2% to 4.5%)

• £1,500 lump sum 

• blocked government plans to slash redundancy terms

As MoD develops its ten-year reward strategy and negotiates with trade unions, we need maximum pressure from members to get a good outcome. 

Also, MoD is becoming a minimum wage employer because the National Living Wage increase has left a number of grades paid the same rate for different jobs. We need pressure to get MoD to sort it out.

Our pay demands for 2024/25 include:

• a cost-of-living rise, plus pay restoration for previous years

• pay equality across departments on the best possible terms

• a living wage of £15 per hour

• London weighting provision of a minimum £5,000 per year

• 35 days annual leave minimum

• a significant shortening of the working week with no loss of pay

National Campaign Survey

We need to know if you’d be prepared to strike again and if you’d help pay into a levy for the targeted strike action that does the damage. 

Your link should have been sent to your email address or so please check your junk folder for an email from news@pcs.org.uk.

Here is a guide to completing the survey.

Solidarity,

Chris Dando - Defence Sector Group President

PCS responds to Dowden's comments on cutting Civil Service using AI

The Cabinet Office secretary and deputy prime minister said the government needs to “embrace” AI to “drive the numbers down”.

In a briefing with journalists on 29 February, Cabinet Office secretary and deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden said that adopting AI could be a “significant downward driver” in reducing staff numbers in the civil service, with the chancellor aiming to cut 66,000 jobs by the end of the next Spending Review.

Dowden claimed that staffing numbers in the civil service grew “as a result of the pandemic and EU exit preparedness.” He said: 

“We need to really embrace this stuff to drive the numbers down. By doing those things better, you have to have fewer civil servants doing the administrative tasks that drive these things, which should lead us to savings both on headcount and on overall budget.”

In responding to Dowden’s comments, PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: "PCS recognises that AI is an inevitable development that has been introduced and will be increasingly used in the workplace. In contrast to Mr Dowden though we want AI to enhance jobs and not to degrade them and we are opposed to mass job losses that clearly Mr Dowden wants. For this reason, the union’s national executive on 6/7 March will discuss adopting an agreement to put to the civil service which will govern the introduction and operation of AI systems and in particular will seek to prohibit systems which automate decision making and so take humans out of the loop of such decisions."

"If Mr Dowden is serious about cutting 66,000 posts through AI then he should come clean and admit that in DWP, the justice system, HMRC and other departments that he wants software to judge and decide upon citizens; for the machine to be in charge. In contrast PCS wants to improve, not dehumanise work and for productivity gains made through the introduction and use of AI to be shared between the workers and the organisation in the form of reduced hours and increased pay."

Pay Claim 2024/25

PCS is submitting our pay demands for 2024/25 to the UK Government. Make sure you add your voice to demand fair pay for you and your colleagues.

Complete the national survey on your pay demands before Tuesday, 5 March

Winning More

Last year, PCS members took unprecedented levels of strike action across the civil service and its related areas.

This action directly led to concessions from the UK government and devolved administrations that saw PCS members winning pay remits of at least 4.5% and a £1,500 lump sum payment.

This year, PCS members are taking greater demands to the employer. These include:

•   a cost-of-living rise with restoration for previous years

• pay equality across departments on the best possible terms

• a living wage of £15 an hour

• London weighting provision of minimum £5,000 a year

• 35 days annual leave minimum

• a significant shortening of the working week with no loss of pay

Have Your Say

If you support these demands make sure you take part in the national survey by Tuesday, 5 March.

The more members who take part the greater our strength will be at the negotiating table.

Complete the national PCS Survey on your pay demands.

Fran Heathcote

General Secretary

Martin Cavanagh

National President

PCS goes back to court over Pensions

We will be in the Appeal Court on 20 February to challenge the government's intervention on pension cost-sharing, which could have cut employee contributions by 2%.

In 2019 the government intervened to block the operation of pension cost-sharing, which would have cut the employee pension contribution by 2%, after the scheme valuation revealed future scheme costs to be significantly lower than expected.

Last year PCS, along with unions GMB, Unite, FBU, POA and RCN, took proceedings in the High Court to challenge this intervention. When the case did not succeed, the unions sought leave to appeal, which was granted. Our case at the Court of Appeal will be heard over three days starting on Tuesday 20 February.

The government has argued that the additional cost of the McCloud Judgement - by which unlawful age discrimination in changes imposed in 2015 are made good - must fall on the members of the scheme. In fact the current levels of both employee and employer contribution clearly find favour with the Treasury which has intervened to add a similar amount to core scheme costs in the subsequent valuation and branded this as an “economic check”.

PCS is clear that our affordable pension scheme is a key campaign issue and is central to our national campaign to protect and enhance the employment terms of our members.

PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: 

"For far too long you’ve been overpaying into your pensions and this injustice must be rectified. It’s a further insult for the government to insist that the burden of righting this wrong should fall on the shoulders of our members. This hearing and the escalation of our national campaign are important steps on the journey to fixing the mess this government has made of your pensions."

Pay Claim 2024/25

The PCS national executive committee (NEC) has met to discuss our pay claim for 2024/2025 and the next steps in our national campaign.

Our pay demands for 2024/25 to the UK Government include:

• a cost-of-living rise, and pay restoration for previous years

• pay equality across departments on the best possible terms,

• a living wage of £15 an hour,

• London weighting provision of a minimum £5,000 a year,

• 35 days annual leave minimum,

• a significant shortening of the working week with no loss of pay.

Watch our latest video about the campaign.

We want to hear your views on our campaign and on what you are prepared to do to ensure the government commits to our demands. We will be sending an email to you early next week with a personalised survey link.

Please ensure you complete the survey so that we can gauge support for the campaign from members. The survey will be open from 20 February until 5 March.

The NEC will look at the survey results and make any necessary decisions at its meeting in March. It is likely that strike action will be part of our campaign so please make sure your details (particularly ballot address and workplace) are up to date on

Fran Heathcote
General Secretary

ARMs - staying part of PCS

An increase in retirements is expected this year and we want to give retiring members a chance to stay part of PCS. 

ARMs is the Associate and Retired Members section of PCS. It is growing and has over twelve thousand members. It is an ideal way of staying in touch with the labour and trade union movement. 

Subscription only costs £2.24 per month and gives access to many of the benefits of full membership.

ARMs provides an opportunity for social activities and to support our local and national campaigns. Members can be as involved as they want. There are ARMs groups in Scotland, Wales and each English region. Sub-groups are already active in some localities and more are being set up. ARMs is active in joint campaigns including on social care, the NHS, accessible and affordable transport, and climate change.

Joining ARMs

Any PCS member who leaves employment due to retirement, redundancy or resignation, can transfer to ARMs. Transferring membership to ARMs is easy. On or after the last day of service the member can call the PCS membership department on 020 7801 2670 and switch their membership to ARMs, or email their request to membership@pcs.org.uk. 

More about ARMs: PCS ARMs 

PCS members elect Fran Heathcote as first woman General Secretary

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has elected Fran Heathcote as its first woman general secretary. Fran will take over from Mark Serwotka when he retires next month. 

Fran, who has been the union’s president since 2019, will succeed Mark Serwotka as the leader of the UK’s largest union for civil servants. Mark retires next month having been re-elected five times since 2000. He said: “Many congratulations to Fran. Having worked closely with her over the last four years, I’m confident the union will go from strength to strength under her leadership.”

Fran Heathcote said: “It’s a huge honour to have been elected as general secretary of this successful campaigning union.Thanks to Mark for all his fantastic work over the last 23 years. I was proud to be president of PCS during our successful campaign in 2023 which beat the government's pay policy. I am now determined to lead the fight as general secretary to keep driving up our members pay and dealing with the cost-of-living crisis.”

Fran Heathcote is the first woman general secretary in the 130-year history of PCS and its predecessor unions.

John Moloney was re-elected assistant general secretary.

The full election results can be found on the PCS website here.

Civil Service World: Civil service’s biggest union names first female general secretary 

How we are run

PCS is a democratic union. As a member you can vote for who represents you and have the opportunity to stand for election yourself.

Members are organised into branches, which are often based around workplaces, the branches are organised within employer groups across the civil service and related areas. 

The general secretary is the most senior elected full time official, and is elected every five years. Their work includes meeting with the Cabinet Office and government, and leading on negotiations on pay, pensions, and terms and conditions, as well as being the public voice of PCS with the media. Mark Serwotka has been PCS general secretary since 2000, being re-elected every five years. Mark retires on 31 January 2024 and on 1 February 2024, Fran Heathcote will take up the post of PCS general secretary, 

Our assistant general secretary (AGS) is John Moloney; he was elected in 2019. PCS is run by the national executive committee (NEC), which is elected every year following nominations put forward by branches. The NEC is led by the president, the most senior lay official in the union.

The NEC is responsible for carrying out the policies that are decided on at our annual conference and for making decisions on policy between conferences. It is made up of a president, deputy president, three vice presidents and 30 ordinary members. It meets regularly as a whole and also has sub-committees such as the national disputes committee which can authorise industrial action.

Our current president is Fran Heathcote. Members first elected Fran as president in 2019. Fran is an employee of the DWP. When Fran takes up her role as general secretary in February, one of the deputy or vice presidents will step up to the president's role until elections take place.

General Secretary of PCS Mark Serwotka to retire in January 2024

Civil Service World: Civil service union chief Mark Serwotka to retire after 23 years 

Independent: Union leader Mark Serwotka to retire at end of the year 

From PCS People 

In an interview with PCS People, Mark talks about his 23-year journey as leader of our union, which has seen PCS – and Mark himself – overcome more odds-defying battles than you could shake a placard at.

Did you imagine you’d still be in this job in 2023? No. I was elected at 37 and the last thing on my mind was being here 23 years later. When I stood, I was working part-time in the DHSS (now DWP). I’d been an activist for 20 years but no one, including those running my campaign, thought victory was likely. So winning was a shock. I started on that Monday, having never been on the executive or to the TUC, and knowing hardly anyone in the building.

What are your stand-out memories from the early days? There were a lot of internal problems, but in the wider union the mood was quite euphoric because it had taken a massive effort to get me elected. At first I had to work alongside Barry Reamsbottom who was joint general secretary [due to PCS being formed from a merger in 1999]. As many will remember, after the first year the executive that was loyal to him voted to sack me before I started as the sole GS. He called a meeting and said he didn’t recognise my election. This led to a huge campaign for democracy in PCS, which was inspiring. It ended with a court victory which ruled my election was valid.

What kind of union did you inherit? It still bore the hallmarks of its predecessor, the CPSA. There was a lack of respect for democracy and the role of lay reps and members – so there wasn’t much activity or campaigning, and no serious effort to stand up to the huge attacks the civil service faced. Our focus was the empowerment of lay reps and leaders and resourcing them to do what any union must do to be successful, which is to mobilise its members to participate. We had 240,000 members then, and within two years we’d gone over 300,000.

What were some of the lighter moments in your time as GS? It was a serious time, but one relates to the government’s attempt to bankrupt PCS by removing the ability to collect subs via ‘check-off’. We later proved that they’d acted illegally. The DWP (the first of five departments to lose its case) offered us £1 in compensation. I say that’s funny, because within weeks we’d got £3million and could publicly thank a Tory minister for the huge contribution to our strike fund. In 2011, I was on Newsnight with the Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude and Jeremy Paxman during the pensions strikes. I called Maude a liar on live TV and the horror on their faces was priceless. And before the London Olympics we called a strike in the Home Office. We were being accused of trying to wreck the games and TV crews were camped outside my house and. I was getting hate mail – someone said they’d written to then London Mayor Boris Johnson demanding that I be publicly executed as part of the opening ceremony. That caused some merriment, I have to say.

And darker moments? When I walked into that executive meeting the year after I’d been elected to see one of Reamsbottom’s assistants handing out a paper and somebody shouted, ‘I don’t know if you’ve read it yet, but you’re sacked’, it was chilling. I’d left my job and re-located my family from Sheffield to London – it was very difficult. But arguably it planted the seeds for the union that we are now because we overcame that battle against all the odds. We went on to have our first national strike in a generation, in 2004 (below), and I think that was rooted in the activism that defended my election. And obviously there were dark days with my health. The worst was when I was at my desk in Clapham and my heart pump, which was keeping me alive while I waited for a transplant, developed a clot and started alarming. PCS colleagues drove me to Papworth Hospital in Cambridge with the alarm going off constantly. At any point that clot could have been life-ending. I was in hospital for months after that, waiting for my transplant.

What are your proudest achievements as GS? That we’re now truly democratic and member-led. We’ve faced so many attacks from governments, and still do, but what has kept us strong is that we’ve made sure members and activists are at the core of it. I said from the start that for any union to be successful it must be based on workplace participation and activity. That mantra is one we’ve stuck to because you can carry any resolution you like but it achieves nothing if members and reps aren’t prepared to mobilise for it. Also the way we responded to the check-off attack. We recruited 170,000 members to paying subs by direct debit in under three months. It was a stunning team effort that showed the best of the union. And there were the battles over pensions. We negotiated with the Labour government following a strike vote, which meant that every year since 2006 we have members who can still take their civil service pension at 60 – that’s worth hundreds of millions of pounds. Then when the coalition attacked public sector pensions, PCS was pivotal to the massive joint-union fightback in 2011. Today, it’s the legal action we’ve taken on behalf of refugees to stop pushbacks and deportations to Rwanda. I can’t tell you how proud I am and how much good feedback PCS gets on this. We were able to take a bold stand by being unionised in the Border Force and picking up on the concerns of members who objected to what they saw as illegal activity that could risk life. We’ve represented those workers and made alliances to fund legal cases that mean no one has been deported to Rwanda.

How do you see PCS’s future? I’m very optimistic. We are about to elect the first woman GS. The union is financially healthy. We have fantastic staff working in new ways. We’ve recently beaten the anti-union thresholds in national ballots twice. We have recruited significantly thanks to our national campaign and have many brilliant activists. We have found an industrial action strategy that’s for the first time delivered more money from the government across the board. And on those picket lines we saw an influx of younger people and more diversity. All the teamwork people have done over the years has put PCS in a great place. If we elect people who commit to the same ideals – strong in the workplace with active participation – we’ll only get stronger and win more.

What will you do now? I’ve been working for 44 years and had significant health issues. It’ll be the first time in decades that I won’t be looking at emails or being on the phone constantly. So firstly I’m going to relax and really enjoy some time with my family. Then I’ll see what the future brings. I’m still passionate about so many things. I’ll also be re-engaging with my Cardiff City season ticket.

MoD settles historic overtime payment errors

2016 joiners on 37 hour contracts were underpaid overtime rates.

MOD and DBS made an error in calculating overtime payments for 37-hour contracted staff. Overtime was paid at the incorrect hourly rate (that of a 42 hour contracted worker), less than the 37-hour rate (both rates are based on the same annual salary divided by 52 weeks then by your contracted hours to give the hourly rate).

This issue only affected PCS members who joined defence after 2016 on 37-hour contracts. If you are on a 42-hour contract, then you are not affected by the mistake DBS made, as you were paid overtime at your correct 42-hourly rate. MOD states that you got the correct overtime pay over the last 7 years.

The mistake was spotted by DBS who raised this with MOD Civ HR. The pay team, in MOD, argued hard with the trade unions that these payments should be limited to 2 years back pay. We disagreed. PCS and the other unions pointed out this was a breach of contract and that the claim should be extended to 6 years.

MOD pay team cited case law that permits them to short change our members and not pay them all the money that they were owed. It is PCS's understanding that the money paid to you was for a two-year period dating back from the discovery of the error. This is money that has been held in government coffers for up to 5 years when it should have been yours.

At this point we would be delighted if MOD want to review all the mistakes they make and put them right, it would be a great step towards a fairer workplace for UK government employees. With your sustained commitment to trade unions and equity we will make that happen.

That is the history, that is what happened, we don't like the 37-hour contract, we don't like different pay rates and we don't like the MOD making mistakes, costing our members money then not paying all they are owed. We also don't like the division this causes.

Unions are all about unity and getting the best outcomes for our members, that why you should join PCS, that's why you must use your vote in ballots and that's why you should get others to join PCS too. Together we are stronger and together we can win.

Defence Pay 2023

MOD main, DE&S and SDA have all released their pay offers for 2023 to staff.

PCS will not oppose the implementation of these offers, because you need the money (albeit less than you deserve) paid to you as fast as possible.

All three offers are on average below inflation. Because PCS entered a pay claim for an above inflation pay claim we are once again not going to ballot you on this offer. There is sound reasoning for this:

• There are no other contractual changes attached to the offer

• You have been balloted twice for action this year and there is also a consultative ballot underway

• This offer is not on average above inflation

• You are still losing pay value year on year

• This offer is not funded by Treasury money

• Government stated in the Commons that it is paid for in some part by the recruitment freeze that PCS oppose

•  We don’t want to delay payment any further

PCS have been battling for your interests throughout the pandemic and the current period of rampant high inflation. We fought for single year pay offers, balloted for action, opposed below inflation pay increases (that are real terms pay cuts), maintained workplace health and safety, introduced policy to make hybrid working easier, defended allowances, plus terms and conditions, and PCS has not allowed certain workers to have actual pay reduced. 

All this action could not stop MOD paying the E1s And E2s the same pay effectively holding the E1 pay down. This pay round has not resolved that issue.

The offer for defence falls short of two pay review bodies, that have recommended to government that both the Armed Forces and the Senior Civil Service should have higher pay increases than civil servants that work alongside them. We understand the Armed Forces deserve decent pay rises, what we do take issue with is that they are larger than yours with the military getting up to 17.5% including pay progression which is not an option for civilians. The concept of a whole force is constantly undermined.

Action points:

• Attend your local DSG Branch meeting

• Raise and discuss issues and concerns

• Go to www.pcs.org.uk/news-events/news/defence

• Use your vote in the PCS online consultative ballot

• Sign up to PCS Digital

• Ask a colleague to join PCS

Justin Thomas 

Group Secretary DSg 

MOD Statement

MOD has stated that it “understands that many of us are having a hard time financially in the current economic climate.” The result of the pay remit guidance from the Cabinet office is that once again your pay will be below even the falling of inflation.

This is the offer the department describes as “the highest increases to pay we have experienced in the civil service in the last twenty years.” This is set against the biggest fall in living standards in the last 60 years!

PCS members in the civil service took long and sustained industrial action against the employer and only this action won the concessions on the £1500 cost of living payment and the increased yet insufficient 4.5-5% pay increase

Recently the Government accepted the Armed Forces’ Pay Review Body (AFPRB) and the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) recommendations. The Armed forces, that our civil servants support, is awarded 5% plus £1000, this is all consolidated pay in contrast to the 4.5% that you will receive.

Defence has indeed issued a formal offer to PCS for Civilian Pay 23 and the department has issued the details of the offer to you.  

There is little other than a paltry temporary allowance for the E1s who had their pay levelled down to their E2 colleagues. There is no attempt to reintroduce the differential between the grades. In many areas there is significant responsibility that our members are undertaking for no pay differential. An allowance is not the way to resolve an issue of MOD’s own making. If MOD don’t want to raise basic pay to resolve the situation that may indicate, they are content with the present pay.

The other aspect of this pay offer, to note and criticise, is that not everyone will even receive 4.5% consolidated pay; many people will get non-consolidated pay to make up the difference, with a consequent impact on future pay and pension contributions.

PCS have a set procedure in place to consult members on the current industrial dispute that we have balloted defence members on twice in 12 months. PCS are not specifically consulting members on a below inflation and inadequate pay offer that the government was forced into by successful strike action by other civil servants. 

PCS will not stand in the way of this pay offer being implemented as soon as possible. You have had to wait too long for the £1500 cost of living payment, and we don't want you to have to wait for the pay increase that you are desperately in need of.

It is difficult to see how anyone can be “proud of what we are seeking to achieve within this offer” 

After the last 15 years of austerity and inflation, PCS will always seek more pay on your behalf, you are part of PCS and a key part of getting the pay offers you need. If you are not a member you should join PCS, we can only represent your position if you are a member, join PCS here. 

There is more information on the recognised unions and who they represent on defnet. 

DE&S Statement

The 2023 pay offer from DE&S is still the complex assortment of consolidated and non-consolidated pay, bonuses and performance that you are all too used to. Some of the cohort of DE&S workers will not even get the 4.5% that other civil servants in defence are getting. 

PCS is not going to stand in the way of this pay offer going into your pockets, we genuinely understand the need for you to get this pay rise as soon as possible. 

We are not balloting members on acceptance, this is for a number of reasons. One is that we are balloting members on whether to close our dispute or not, two, we have balloted you twice over whether to take strike action, three, the increase in the pay remit guidance was achieved by strike action in the civil service and four we don’t want the payment to be delayed by a further balloting process.

We know that this offer is nowhere near the cost of living that you are experiencing and is not fairly distributed across DE&S. PCS negotiators have raised these issues on your behalf, as we always will, until DE&S get rid of the abusive performance related pay system. It is right that some of the lowest paid get a higher increase, yet this shows that they are in danger of falling behind the MOD and industry in pay terms and it is the risk of losing staff that causes the increase. Meanwhile at the top of DE&S pay awards and bonuses are greater for those who are already better paid.

As always, the heart of the problem is the Board’s dogmatic dependence on performance-related pay that is discriminatory, divisive and disruptive. The DE&S board must drop their addiction to a discredited pay system that costs too much to administer whilst channeling money to those who don’t need it. The upshot of this is that this policy is allowing DE&S to fall behind the basic pay in MOD once again. That was the situation that PCS worked hard to remedy and now is once again at risk because of the pay policy that needs to change.

If you want real change, join PCS, vote in the consultative ballot and get involved. 

SDA Statement

SDA have delivered slightly more for their staff than DE&S this year. SDA have tried to remedy the disparity with MOD and say, “This year we have an additional commitment to increase our pay ranges from 1 August 2023 to ensure they remain equitable with MOD Main pay ranges to reduce the risk of an internal market between the two departments.” SDA appears to appreciate the risk it faces of losing staff and is actively working to try to keep you.

The majority in SDA will get more than 4.5% yet there is still the issue of people on lower performance ratings who will get a pay award well below the inflation rate. As with DE&S the mix of performance capability, uplift, consolidated and no consolidated pay paints a confusing picture for staff and employer alike. It is a complex system and removing the performance elements would go a long way to simplifying pay in SDA. 

The total investment in pay from SDA is 9.6% yet strip out the performance awards and that leaves 6% with some staff only seeing 2% or 0%. PCS accepts the need for a form of progression on a competency basis, we do not see the need for divisive performance awards and bonus payments. 9.6% evenly distributed across the SDA would have delivered a fairer outcome.

If you want real change, join PCS, vote in the consultative ballot and get involved.

Millions of public sector workers to get pay rises between 5%-7%, the government says.

Notably Civil Servants are not mentioned here. That's because we are only being offered 4.5% on average. Could this have anything to do with the 13,000 vacancies defence is already carrying?

• Police officers: 7%

• Prison officers: 7%

• Teachers: 6.5%

• Junior doctors: 6%

• Armed forces: 5%

Full story here - BBC NEWS:  Millions of public sector workers to get pay rise

MoD and DE&S annouce recruitment freeze

PCS' responds to the defence decision to stop recruiting staff

MOD and DE&S have been instructed by the secretary of state for defence to stop recruitment for a month, then look at ways to manage the inflationary pressures we face until 2025 by reducing recruitment.

The statement from the department says: "the projected growth in our civil service workforce isn’t affordable, the secretary of state has made the decision to introduce civil service recruitment controls to help the department manage our financial pressures."

PCS was informed about this in mid-June and we immediately expressed our concerns about this worrying position for UK defence. We were asked not to comment on this policy until it was announced, this did not apply to defence staff among whom this has been an open secret.

The controls start with a short pause of all new recruitment from 10 July to 4 August (not affecting Defence Nuclear and certain ringfenced nuclear roles) followed by Top Level Budget (TLB) and Arm’s Length Body (ALB) controls.

These controls will still allow flexibility to recruit to urgently needed roles which makes the entire decision look questionable, there is clearly great need to employ more staff. 

The department has said this on the subject:  "The aim is to continue to drive down unnecessary expenditure on costs that do not contribute to front-line delivery. I hear from colleagues that we already have gaps in our teams which are resulting in workload pressures."

Many of our members contact PCS stating that they are taking on two or three people's work, causing work-related stress, illness and absence, with associated costs. Civilians are meant to be content that this will cause no redundancies, but with defence carrying 13,000 vacancies at present this is cold comfort to those bearing the burden of extra work. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that there are no redundancies because defence is already at least 13,000 people short.

The answer is real investment in a vital public service that went above and beyond in Covid and over Ukraine, your reward as always is to work longer and harder for less. 

Defence can save millions each year by stopping unnecessary disciplinaries, capability and sickness absence investigations and dismissals. The bullying and harassment civilians face and the associated investigations and complaints that occupy so much resource, is necessary only because defence leaders won't apply the lessons of Wigston, Sue Owen's report and the Tolley report.

This change could happen today, to improve the working lives of all staff and cut the costs of this abuse.

Update from Defence Sector Group on £1500 payment

The £1500 cost of living payment is due to be paid late in August.

The Department has issued information about the payment of the £1500 to civil servants in UK Defence. This payment is a one-off £1,500 non-consolidated payment to staff groups subject to the civil service pay remit guidance. 

It will be taxed as part of your income for 2023-24 and will affect Universal Credit (UC) and student loans. PCS has attempted to negotiate flexibility for you in the payment, we have been advised that however it is paid it will affect UC. The department will pay it in one lump sum and not until August. DSG negotiators note that other departments are paying the money sooner and we have pushed the department to pay it as soon as possible. However we have been told that August is the best they can do. 

This applies to SDA and DE&S as well as MOD main. The employer claims "this payment recognises the cost-of-living increases felt last year and is intended to help alleviate financial pressures you are facing", however the payment is still pro-ratad, despite PCS protesting this move and calling for £1500 "flat cash" payment to all staff, as that was the intention of the claim. PCS nationally is taking up this issue with the Cabinet Office, challenging the equality impact of the decision to pro rata. Meanwhile we want you to get this payment as early as possible and we have done all we can to get this payment in your pocket as soon as possible.

It is disappointing that a major government department has to signpost staff to discounts at Civilian Discover My Benefits (mod.gov.uk) to make up for poverty pay. This situation will only end when more staff join PCS and form an effective lever to effect a change in the pay policy 

2023 Pay Offer

The Secretary of State has also given approval for MOD to enter into formal negotiations with trade unions on MOD’s 2023 pay offer. PCS will issue further updates on the 2023 pay award; essentially it is the revised pay remit guidance the Treasury announced after PCS used effective strike action against the government policy. 

This will offer 4.5% plus 0.5% to the lowest paid, but will be a mix of consolidated and non-consolidated pay with 4.5% as average. There is still the issue of E2 and E1 pay to resolve as many of these grades are on the minimum wage. This issue is a priority for PCS in this pay round. 

PCS is also in pay talks with DE&S and SDA. The bonuses in these two defence employers have been announced to staff. PCS continues to oppose unfair and discriminatory bonuses and we will push for the fairer system of pay progression based on competency that will give staff transparent route to fairer pay and reduce the impact of divisive bonus payments that DE&S' board are wedded to. 

PCS members have taken industrial action on pay and won concessions, we must go further and deeper to stop this situation arising in the future. Join PCS, get workmates to join, call on your branch officers to hold vital branch pay meetings and get involved.

Defence Pay Day

Members are urged to review pay slips as Defence introduces new pay system.

Defence Business Services (DBS) have switched to using the "pay module" of MyHR, this change affects all civil servants in UK defence that have salary paid by DBS.

See details here: https://www.pcs.org.uk/news-events/news/defence-pay-day

Defence  sector meetings with  employers about £1500 payment

Initial talks on cost-of-living payment to MOD, DE&S and SDA staff

PCS met with the MOD CivHR team on 6 June to discuss the payment of the £1500 to all civil servants. We have put the following points to the department.

•  Staggering the payments for financial benefit.

• Eligibility/Retirement/Joiners/

• People moving departments and loaned out.

• Pro rata payments

We are requesting the maximum flexibility in the MOD approach to the payment of this cost-of-living payment, as we want to get the maximum benefit for all our members. PCS wants this money in your pockets as soon as possible, but we appreciate any agreement needs ministerial sign off. We trust this will happen as soon as possible.

We have also met with DE&S and SDA putting the same message to them. DSTL and UKHO held talks with the unions and are seeking ministerial sign off on the set of proposals that were discussed. The proposals from DSTL and UKHO are broadly in line with the maximum flexibility PCS wants and an early settlement.

PCS trust all the employers will ensure a consistent and fair approach, to get this cost-of-living payment settled and paid. We have been assured that there will be news from MOD main early next week and we will update you accordingly.

Pay: Significant concessions from government in national dispute

A meeting took place last Friday 2 June with Jeremy Quin MP, the Minister for the Cabinet Office to discuss the ongoing dispute in the UK civil service and related areas. At the meeting the Minister confirmed that the government will make significant concessions relating to pay, redundancy terms and job security.

This is the first time in our union’s history that members taking national action in the UK civil service and related areas have forced a government to make concessions on pay at national level resulting in considerable extra money for members.

Our strategy has involved the most industrial action in our union’s history, with 118 days of brilliantly supported targeted strike action in the first phase and 186 days in the second phase, alongside 3 days of national action.

Our national executive committee met today and agreed to congratulate all activists and members for their part in the national campaign.

The proposal

The key elements of the government’s proposal are:

•         A non-consolidated lump sum of £1500 in recognition of cost of living pressures in 2022/23. The payment will be made by              individual employers over the next    few   weeks following meetings with the union.

• An increase in the headline pay remit figure from 2% to 4.5%, with an extra 0.5% for the lowest paid, for 2023/24.

• A commitment to further talks on low pay and greater coherence of pay within the civil service.

•        The government will not take any action or make any changes to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme until 2025, which           in effect will be after the next general election.

• A commitment to further talks on strengthening redundancy avoidance measures through the jobs protocols, taking                        account of the changed world of work following the Covid-19 pandemic and the acceleration of use of new technology in that          changed world.

This is a significant achievement for the union which, while short of our full claim, puts money in members’ pockets and brings parity of treatment with other public sector workers.

Next steps

Further discussions will follow with the Cabinet Office at the end of June in order to take stock of progress and ensure that all bargaining areas have committed to paying the £1,500 without conditions.

We have said that we do not want any area left behind and that payment must be made to all members, and this will inform the next steps in our campaign.

The NEC will meet again at the end of June following the further meeting with the Cabinet Office to consider the position, and the next steps for the national campaign. It is important that branches and groups hold members meetings and ensure the maximum discussion amongst members to ascertain their views. Planned targeted action this month will go ahead as planned. Any reballots for action are on hold pending the outcome of the delegated talks.

We will give members further information, including providing an FAQ on the government proposal on the website which will include how it affects members in the devolved administrations. Members will receive an email with a video explainer from the General Secretary. Please attend any meetings which will be organised in your branch.

Mark Serwotka to retire as PCS General Secretary - 22 May

Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, has announced that he is to retire at the end of the year. Mark has been the general secretary of PCS since 2000, and was re-elected in 2005, 2009, 2014 and 2019. He has been a member of the TUC General Council since 2002 and its Executive Committee since 2003. He was President of the TUC in 2019. Mark Serwotka said: “It’s been an honour and a privilege to serve as PCS general secretary for 23 years. I have endeavoured to represent PCS members to the best of my ability and to fight for their interests. We have led the way within the trade union movement on challenging the political consensus that working people must accept cuts in their jobs, pay and public services. “Today PCS is in the best place it has been for many years. We have withstood attacks on our union from Conservative governments and we are now growing. We are winning historically high votes in industrial action ballots which beat the Tory ballot threshold and we have developed an effective industrial action strategy for the future. We have young members coming forward to become a new layer of activists. Our financial position is the best it has been in years. “People will be aware that I have had serious health issues resulting in a heart transplant in 2016. Such issues need to be considered in making decisions about the future. Taking into account what is right for myself, my family and the union, I have decided that now is the time to announce my retirement.” A timetable for the election of a new General Secretary will follow in due course.

Fran Heathcote highlights union's successes as conference opens - 23 May

PCS president Fran Heathcote opened conference with a tribute to outgoing general secretary Mark Serwotka. She hailed his success in turning the union around and making sure future leaders can build on his many successes.  And she highlighted the union’s successes over the last year, including boosting membership, taking on immoral government policies and causing serious disruption in an ongoing campaign of industrial action. Fran said: “Mark has carried us through challenging times giving us inspiration to stand up to employers and the government. “His retirement will be a great loss to us but he will leave the union in the best place it has been for years and with a great foundation for the next generation of leaders.” The past year has seen an overwhelming vote in favour of industrial action across the country, with more than 300 days of strike action following. This has in turn led to a boom in membership, with our ranks now swelling to 190,000 members, the highest since check off was abolished.  And more are now becoming reps and advocates, particular younger members and women. But members continue to struggle with the devastating effects of spiralling inflation, now at a 40-year high - while the government insists on keeping wages down. Our cost-of-living survey found 85% of members say the crisis has affected their health, 52% fear losing their homes and 8% have used a foodbank. Fran said: “We are asked to believe the idea from government that it’s workers’ wages pushing inflation - it’s rubbish, pure propaganda.  “It’s the large companies such as supermarkets with price increases beyond the price of materials pushing shopping bills to record highs.” Fran highlighted the union’s success in challenging the government’s plans to turn back boats full of refugees in the channel, and the continuing legal fight against the Rwanda deportation scheme. She ended with a call for unity and solidarity, saying: “Pressure can lead to fighting amongst ourselves.”

Members vote to push on with strikes campaign and win - 24 May

PCS members have pledged to press on with their campaign of combining targeted and all-member strike action to keep pressure on the government and ultimately win justice on pay, pensions and job security. Delegates from across the UK took part in a robust debate on a key set of NEC and branch motions aimed at agreeing the union’s national campaign strategy for the coming period. A motion from the NEC (A290), seconded by DWP Glasgow, was overwhelmingly supported by delegates on Tuesday (23) afternoon. In moving the motion, general secretary Mark Serwotka said members should congratulate themselves for what they have achieved in the battle so far, including delivering unprecedented amounts of targeted action, and forcing the government into a number of concessions. “But, of course, it’s not enough,” he said, adding that we need to push on with the current strategy which is “incredibly popular” with members and designed to be sustainable.

Delegates agreed that PCS would call further targeted and all-member action to build further pressure on the employer to agree to our reasonable demands. To support this, PCS will continue to collect the strike fund levy at the current rate for the duration of the dispute. Conference also resolved to organise a targeted political lobbying campaign of Tory ministers and to explore coordinated action with other unions, particularly civil service unions. In moving an alternative motion (A291), Steve from DWP Edinburgh, Lothian and Borders branch said there were many points of agreement on the strategy, but his branch believed it should go further, with a commitment to national strike dates for 3 days every month. “Our action needs to be more hard hitting,” he said. Speaking against this proposal, the NEC’s Martin Cavanagh said calling action 3 days a month would “demonstrate a callous disregard to the conditions all members are finding themselves in” due to poverty pay and the cost-of-living crisis. Proposing a further motion (A292), which included a call to include action short of strike action on upcoming re-ballots and all future re-ballots, Dave from DWP Wigan said his branch believed national action should have been called earlier in the campaign. “The question that we have to ask ourselves is are we fighting the most effective, most vigorous campaign possible?” he said. Speaking in support of the NEC motion, Beth from Defra said it provided the most flexibility: “We can be creative, we can escalate, we can move our action.” She highlighted that her area had held a successful ballot on action short of a strike and that this is possible for any branch. In his right of reply, Mark welcomed the debate and said the NEC is happy to take on board constructive criticism “because we want to bring everybody with us”. He said it was notable that so many of those speaking to support the strategy had taken sustained and effective targeted action in this campaign, such as members in Ofgem, Defra, DWP and HM Passport Office. “The key point is, we all want to win,” he added.

In agreeing to A290, which meant the other 2 motions fell, conference acknowledged that the action taken so far has:

• Forced the employer to move from a planned headline figure in the civil service pay remit guidance of 2% to 4.5%, with an additional 0.5% for the lowest paid.

• Halted progress on the planned cuts to the civil service compensation scheme.

• Led to 3 pay deals accepted by members in Scotland which have included substantial pay rises, progress on the minimum wage and on a shorter working week and more coherent bargaining arrangements.

• Generated willingness from the employer to discuss our demands for a job security agreement following the government’s abandonment of a headcount cut.

It was also agreed that areas in the recent mandate renewal ballot that fell short of the 50% threshold should be invited to request a re-ballot from the union and that all areas can make requests for ballots on action short of a strike.

PCS conference backs plans for refresh of PCS Proud - 25 May 

Delegates at PCS conference voted to write to all members and refresh PCS Proud, the union’s self-governing group for LGBT+ members, and for the union to step up work on tackling underrepresentation. Motion A293 moved by Liat of MoJ Staffordshire on Wednesday (24) opposed the national executive committee’s plans, put forward in motion A41, to reconstitute Proud, and relaunch it in line with the structures of the union’s other equality groups and provide support to build its membership and networks.

Liat said motion A293 allowed for Proud members to determine its future rather than the NEC. Angela Grant, who moved motion A41 on behalf of the NEC, stressed that all members of the union “need to unite in the face of our common enemy (the Tory government)”. “Our union is here to protect every member,” she said. “This is a motion to bring unity to all our equality strands.” She said that the NEC wanted to give its full support to each and every equality strand in its turn. Jordan from the Disclosure and Barring Service spoke to support A293 and said that PCS Proud had brought him the skills and confidence to become a PCS rep. “We want to convene an AGM to discuss Proud’s future, to allow us to hold a lengthy discussion about its issues and how we can resolve them,” he said. H from HMRC Merseyside branch said it was the “fundamental right of every group to be in charge of their own destiny and it should be decided by Proud”. Marie from DWP City of Sunderland branch spoke in support of A41 and to oppose A293. She said: “We need to strengthen our equality strands with unity and equality across all protected characteristics.”

Jackie Green spoke to oppose A293 on behalf of the NEC and told conference the intention was not to disband Proud. “I love Proud and this is not about disbanding Proud. What the NEC is proposing is a refresh of Proud. We want to work together and that’s how we have unity.” A41 was lost following a card vote and delegates subsequently voted to carry A293.

Call for  thorough investigation into sexual harassment in civil service - 26 May 

A thorough investigation into sexual harassment in the civil service will be demanded after conference overwhelmingly backed action. Delegates instructed PCS to organise a dedicated sexual harassment conference early next year and to publish literature for reps about dealing with sexual harassment. Motion A64, which was debated on Thursday morning (25), said PCS should be “at the forefront of fighting sexual harassment in the civil service”.

Stephanie from DWP Birmingham South moved the motion and told conference: “No worker should go to work in fear of sexual harassment, but we know that sexual harassment is still rife in our workplaces.” She quoted TUC research which found that 50% of women and nearly 70% of LGBT+ workers have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. “The civil service as a whole has no figures on sexual harassment. This shows the clear lack of concern from our employers,” she said. “Civil servants don’t feel comfortable coming forward to report sexual harassment. We know there is underreporting of sexual harassment and we know that victims do not feel supported or believed. We need a culture change. We need a world where zero tolerance means zero tolerance.” She said it was shocking that we still have to call out sexual harassment in the workplace but stressed that it is “so important that we do”.

The motion called on the NEC to:

•       Insist on a thorough investigation covering all departments of the civil service with findings to be shared with PCS.

• Produce appropriate and specific education and supporting literature for our reps and members.

• Organise a dedicated sexual harassment conference to be held in February 2024 in line with Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week or to be held in April 2024 in line with the Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Julian, from PSG UK Export Finance branch, seconded the motion and said that a survey in his workplace revealed that well over 50% of women members of staff had personally suffered some form of sexual harassment, either verbal or physical. Cathy from HMRC Northern Ireland branch moved motion A65, heard in general debate with A64, and said: “It’s sad that in 2023 we are still in the position where violence against women is still common. Unfortunately, most women will have faced some sort of misogyny, harassment or violence.” A65 said that sexual violence and harassment are endemic in modern society, highlighted by the appalling murders of Sabina Nessa, Sarah Everard, Ashleen Murphy and sisters Bibba Henry and Nicole Smallman. The motion called on the NEC to engage with individual employers to ensure the introduction of policies to prevent or deal with violence against women where these don’t currently exist, separate from standard grievance processes. Kate from DWP Bucks and Oxon branch said she had represented members at work who had been sexually harassed and even raped – with little or no consequences for their aggressors. She said: “None of the victims were treated seriously or with any compassion at all. “Some members ask me for support because they are scared to put in grievances because of the chance of repercussions.” And Soarsa from DWP Bradford echoed her experience, adding: “I’m tired of managers not taking this issue seriously.” 

Angela Grant who spoke to support both motions on behalf of the NEC said: “Our PCS reps are receiving far too many reports of sexual harassment and assault happening in the workplace. “As a union it is incumbent on us to work to make it stop. Nobody should have their space invaded, ever.” She highlighted the PCS sexual harassment training available to all members and reps, which explains how to report incidents, and the Wales TUC sexual harassment toolkit. 

Both motions were unanimously carried. 

National minimum wage in the MoD

MOD have effectively merged the E1 and E2 grades onto the minimum wage, leaving staff undervalued and angry.

For 12 years the MOD has held back pay. PCS has campaigned ceaselessly against this and has on several occasions entered pay claims in double digits. The two "three year" pay offers that MOD proposed would not have addressed the AA AO (E2 E1) pay situation, AA pay would still have overtaken AO in April 2023.

Unions were called to a meeting about the E1 E2 pay last week where effectively MOD was kicking E2 pay into the long grass. PCS protested but we were told that this is now part of an overall look at pay and reward and that it encompasses use of technology, upskilling and future job requirements. 

PCS has raised the issue of minimum wage pay in pay talks for 4 years as it became increasingly clear to your negotiators that this was a problem of MOD's making and that MOD could remedy it if they chose. In other departments they have raised their AAs to AOs and consequently raise their pay, however in MOD they have downgraded AO pay. This is clearly a race to the bottom and unless MOD take swift and decisive action on pay this issue may affect more grades too.

We ask MOD staff to join PCS, we have asked you to vote yes for industrial action in MOD. We did this because we know we are dealing with an employer that does not want to consult or negotiate that does not care about recruiting or retaining staff. Voting in ballots was an essential first step to defending your pay. MOD is an employer creating a dis-incentive for staff to join or stay in the department, believing they can pile resultant work onto those who are left to work longer harder for less.

We plan to hold a meeting with our E1 and E2 members after PCS conference and emails about this will be with you soon.

Pay and Strike Ballot

Our Campaign

Following our national industrial action ballot on pay, pensions, jobs and redundancy pay which ran from 26 September to 7 November in 2022, we started a programme of significant industrial action.

Our industrial action is in support of our claim for a 10% pay rise, pensions justice, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms. We have been carrying out targeted industrial action with specific groups of members, designed to cause the most disruption to the employer.

We held one day strikes on 

• 1 February, 

• 15 March, 

• 28 April, 

of all members who had a mandate for strike action (gaining over the 50% turnout threshold).

Fresh ballot 20 March to 9 May 2023

Our fresh ballot so that we can continue strike action opened on 20 March and closed on 9 May. 

Results of the ballot by employer Read the results. 

Defence re-ballot 20 March to 9 May 2023

Unfortunately neither MoD (Main) or Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) achieved the 50% threshold and will not be participating. Of those voting 75.54% and 70.39% respectively voted for action, both increasing again.

Defence Science & Technology Laboratory once again surpassed the threshold with an increased 83.33% of those voting, voting Yes.

Donate to our strike fund to support our members taking action.

Read our national claim

See who is striking when.

Not a PCS member? Join online now. 

Defence Sector Group - Strike Ballot

Details here: https://www.pcs.org.uk/news-events/news/defence-sector-group-building-support-strike-ballot

PCS  Campaign and Industrial Action

Thank you to our members for supporting our national campaign for fair pay, pensions justice and job security.

We have seen unprecedented industrial action, 2 national one-day strikes and thousands of PCS members across dozens of employers taking sustained, targeted action.

Thank you for paying the strike fund levy and taking action when we have asked you.

Those taking targeted industrial action are doing so on behalf of you and everyone else, that’s why it’s important to continue to support them. See who is striking when and send them your support.

That action has built more pressure on the government than we have achieved before in a national dispute. But while some unions have had pay offers accepted by their members, for us and for teachers and many others we have still yet to get acceptable offer.

Watch the latest campaign video

We know the Cabinet Office is on the verge of starting meaningful negotiations, the problem is they continue to drag their feet. And that is why it’s important to continue to support our campaign by voting in the latest industrial action postal ballot. When you have posted, tell us you have voted.

The government’s anti-union laws require every union to re-ballot every 6 months, and our current mandate runs out at the beginning of May. If you haven’t had your ballot pack or have lost it, read what to do.

To put further pressure on government ministers the single most important thing you can do is post your ballot paper back. If we cross the legal 50% turnout threshold, the government will know we can keep action going for another 6 months if necessary. That might be the key to forcing them to put money on the table for a fair pay increase.

Mark Serwotka - General Secretary                   Fran Heathcote - President

Statement on MoD Pay and Strike Ballot

On the day that PCS re-opens its strike ballot in MOD and Defence areas, the MOD has made our case for higher pay in the Department.

E1 and E2 Grades

In a statement to staff the MOD has admitted that the two lowest paid grades will start on the same salary. People doing different grades of work will have their differential torn up and be paid the same. In the last decade PCS members have got promoted, taken on extra responsibility and gained qualifications to now become no better off. This is a consequence of austerity and pay restraint by the MOD.

PCS is grateful for the disclosure that, in terms of pay, MOD are more than 30% behind where they should be.

PCS has been warning the Department for years that this was going to happen, what has been needed is the PCS strategy on pay, calling for double digit pay settlements to make up for the ruinous years of austerity and pay restraint that have led the MOD to this position. What you have got today is a desperate fudge with two grades stuck together as one.

The decision to merge the grades was made with no reference to the unions. We know what needs to be done: the employer must invest hard cash in maintaining the gap between E1 and E2. Instead, despite PCS asking for a pay forum there was no consultation with unions.

Strike Ballot

The statement from MOD makes clear the 34% shortfall in MOD pay that the department has allowed to build up. MOD is helpfully making the case for strike action on behalf of PCS. All you need to do is join PCS and vote YES in the industrial action ballot to have your say on how the department is treating you over pay.

PCS members have seen the effect of strikes on the railways for firefighters and in healthcare. Strikes win, they get the employer back around the table, when they have had their bluff and bravado called out. The only language the government will listen to is industrial action.

What you can do

• Vote in the ballot.

• Vote yes to industrial action.

• Tell your colleagues and workmates to join PCS for a vote in the ballot for action on pay.

• Sign in and check your details on PCS Digital.

Now is the time to have your say on pay, cuts, compensation, and pensions. 

If you have had your grade merged with another grade join PCS and vote for action. 

If you are at the top of the scale with your reward restricted to non-consolidated increases join PCS and vote yes. 

If you have had your pay held down for years vote yes today. 

We can win, when we join PCS, stick together and vote yes for action. Let’s do it.

Defence Sector re-ballot

Later this month members in the Defence Sector will be re-balloted so you can join your colleagues across the civil service on strike action.

You can make the difference to PCS winning the ballot in Defence. Ballot papers will be sent out from Monday 20th March.

By stepping up and giving some time over the coming weeks we can win a big enough mandate to take action. We need a voice in every workplace. You can be part of the win for PCS by speaking to your friends and colleagues about the ballot and reminding them to vote. You can help out, so sign up HERE; we will be in touch with dates and times for a short briefing session to give you all the information and resources you need to get involved.

BBC NEWS: What has happened to pay in the UK? 

Update Your Details

Everyone can help; it is vital that you all check and update your contact information and, in particular, ensure we have your correct home address, as all ballot papers are being sent out in the post.

It only takes a minute to register for PCS Digital, where you can review and amend your details. Register for PCS Digital HERE.

Make sure you have done all you can to help PCS win the ballot and win for you all in Defence.

Justin Thomas PCS 

Not a member of PCS yet? 

Get details here: About PCS

 JOIN PCS ONLINE

Passport Officers announce five-week strike as PCS action escalates

More than 1,000 PCS members working in the Passport Offices in England, Scotland and Wales are to take 5 weeks’ strike action.  

Those working in Durham, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Newport, Peterborough and Southport will walk out from 3 April to 5 May. Members in the Passport Office in Northern Ireland are currently being balloted and may well join the action subject to the ballot result. The ballot closes today (17). The action is a significant escalation of the union’s long-running dispute over pay, pensions, redundancy terms and job security and is likely to have a significant impact on the delivery of passports as the summer approaches. PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka said: “This escalation of our action has come about because, in sharp contrast with other parts of the public sector, ministers have failed to hold any meaningful talks with us, despite two massive strikes and sustained, targeted action lasting 6 months. “Their approach is further evidence they’re treating their own workforce worse than anyone else. They’ve had six months to resolve this dispute but for six months have refused to improve their 2% imposed pay rise, and failed to address our members’ other issues of concern. “They seem to think if they ignore our members, they’ll go away. But how can our members ignore the cost-of-living crisis when 40,000 civil servants are using foodbanks and 45,000 of them are claiming the benefits they administer themselves?  “It is a national scandal and a stain on this government’s reputation that so many of its own workforce are living in poverty.” 

BBC NEWS: Passport Officers announce five-week strike as PCS action escalates 

PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka "They've had six months to resolve this dispute but for six months have refused to improve their 2% imposed pay rise, and failed to address our members' other issues of concern." He went on to say that the government was "ignoring our members" over their pay concerns but this would not make them "go away". "But how can our members ignore the cost-of-living crisis when 40,000 civil servants are using foodbanks and 45,000 of them are claiming the benefits they administer themselves?

Thank you for making 15 March a success

Tens of thousands of PCS members were on strike, out on picket lines and causing disruption to services across the UK.  Every member who took strike action yesterday (15 March), should feel incredibly proud of their achievement in standing together to show the government that PCS members will continue to fight for the pay, pensions, terms and conditions that they deserve.

Tens of thousands of PCS members took part in yesterday’s strike with hundreds of picket lines across the UK and thousands of members joining in marches and rallies in towns and cities, often arranged with other striking unions, including our rally at Downing Street. Yesterday’s strike action, involving even more PCS members than our strike on 1 February, caused significant disruption to services. Courts were cancelled, production of passports stopped, phonelines were closed, diaries and appointments were blocked, and management struggled to move remaining staff around to provide any sort of service.

Thank you for the hundreds of photos that you sent in, and the reports from your picket lines and workplaces. You can read about what happened yesterday and browse the photo galleries in our 15 March live blog, which also includes solidarity messages, links to videos and media interviews. Please also follow us on Twitter @pcs_union and Facebook and continue to use the hashtags #PCSonStrike and #BlametheGovt.

We are already planning further targeted strike action and we are launching fresh strike postal ballots from Monday, 20 March so that we can maintain our pressure on the government by escalating our strike action beyond May. Look out for your ballot paper in the post soon.

Not a member? Join PCS online today

15 March: PCS strikers out in great numbers

Across the UK, PCS members have been out on strike in their tens of thousands in our biggest strike for years to send a powerful message to the government that they have had enough of being poorly treated on pay, pensions and job security.

From Inverness to Truro, members have been out on picket lines since the early hours in freezing temperatures. And the strikes, taken alongside 600,000 workers from 8 other unions, have had a considerable impact on services.

At HMPO Newport the strike stopped production of passports and limited counter same-day appointments.

The British Museum opened late, multiple galleries closed, and it is only open to members and pre-booked tickets. Prospect members at the museum are also on strike today. On Merseyside, six out of the seven National Museums Liverpool sites are closed to the public, with a lively picket line at the World Museum, the only site still open.

At National Galleries of Scotland all 4 national galleries buildings closed to the public.

At HMPO Scotland the counter was closed and application processing was at a very low level.

In HMRC North West and Central Lancashire, the strike has reduced capacity to deal with Tax Credit services.

At Aberdeen Sherriff’s Court, counters are closed, courts are not running, with reduced staff and a reduced service. And at the Procurator Fiscal Office, Glasgow, all trials have been adjourned today with a massive knock-on effect for the rest of the week and all delayed trials have to be rescheduled. Warrants cannot be actioned, and custodies are affected.

At Wester Hailes Jobcentre in Edinburgh, work coaches' diaries were blocked so no jobcentre appointments are happening today. Inverness jobcentre members have been receiving solidarity from Post Office and rail workers. All appointments have been cancelled at the jobcentre.

Home Office Midlands reports appointments with visa nationals cancelled, and only 2 staff were seen going into the building. The Home Office in Sheffield was struggling to operate in many areas and lots of agency staff wanted to join PCS on the picket.

At Middlesbrough Driving Test Centre all tests were cancelled with a 100% solid strike. The Passport Office in Durham saw no counter or interview appointments available. In Leven jobcentre managers were brought in from other areas to open the office in name only. At HMRC East Kilbride, phone lines were inaccessible, webchat unavailable, and tax not being collected. 

Powerful message

PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka gave speeches to members outside of all the different picket lines he visited in London today and thanked members for turning out in full force on the picket lines.

Speaking to members outside the Treasury building, he said: “You have certainly sent a very, very powerful message to the people who sit in this building, who would have written the budget for Jeremy Hunt that he will be delivering at 12.30pm, that we have had enough.

“We're making more and more noise across the country. I'm getting more and more people to see how appallingly the government treats its own workforce. We've had the lowest pay offer anywhere in the country - 2% - and it's a scandal. So, our final thought is this: hopefully, after they've delivered the budget, and after they see today's strikes, they will call us in for talks and put money on the table.”

Why we are striking

On the picket line at HMRC East Kilbride, Melissa explained why she is out today: “I'm striking for fair pay and to stop all the cuts and for fair pensions. And so my family can live and not just survive.” 

Holly, branch organiser and young members officer, said: “I was a key worker during the height of the pandemic but we're only appreciated when it suits the government.”

Emma, PCS activist at DfE London: “I am on strike today because I want fair pay and treatment for myself and all of my colleagues.”

Montserrat from Darlington DfE said: "I'm striking for our conditions, and for a proper 10% pay rise to take account of inflation and rising costs. Civil servants who keep the country running should not be using food banks. I strike for everyone."

At HMPO Durham, Bill has been a union member since he was 19 (he is now 73). He said: "I am striking today for all of my colleagues and for the next generation of hardworking civil servants. After my years of being a civil servant, I have seen a year-on-year decline in our pay and conditions over the last decade.”

Simmeron who works at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, joined the picket line at the Home Office in London.

She said: “I'm on strike because we all deserve a pay rise. We need to stand together in solidarity because the only way to win our demands and show the government that we're going to push back is by standing together as a unionised workforce, and harnessing the power that we have when we all come together. 

“I'm really, really pleased with the turnout. The effort that people have made to come here today is so heartening, and to see so many young members as well.”

Emma, who works for the Cabinet Office in the equality hub in the disability unit but is based at the DfE building, said she was calling for fairer treatment and pay for herself and “all of my junior colleagues who deserve a fair wage.”

Solidarity

MP Chris Stephens, PCS parliamentary group chair, joined the strikers in London. He said: “It’s clear to me that civil servants are getting the brown end of the stick when it comes to pay offers. It’s very despicable they are only being offered 2% when inflation is at 10% and rising. 

“The fact that civil servants are having to use food aid provision and benefits tells you everything you need to know about the low pay that is in the civil service.”

Fellow MP Paul Maskey was on the picket line outside HMRC in Belfast, and said: "We are here today to support PCS members on strike. Solidarity with all workers fighting for a fair pay for a fair work."

Labour MP Richard Burgon gave a speech to members outside the Home Office this morning.

He told the strikers: “I wanted to be here just to show my solidarity with every single one of the 133,000 PCS workers who are taking brave strike action today. Brave strike action for fair pay, to be treated decently, but also taking strike action in the face of a terrible government trying to demonise you.”

Email your message of support to editor@pcs.org.uk and for more coverage from today see our live blog and find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and on the hashtags #PCSonStrike #BlameTheGovt

How Wednesday 15th March's strikes affect you

Details here: BBC NEWS 

• About 133,000 civil servants, working across more than 123 government departments and agencies, are on strike

• 33,000 more workers than 1 February strike to join PCS action

• Members of the PCS union are taking industrial action in a dispute over pay, pensions, job security and redundancy terms

• Read more:BBC News: Civil servants to strike on budget day

15 March:Thousands in show of strength at rallies

There was a sea of PCS flags outside Downing Street as thousands of our striking members joined a Budget Day lunchtime rally to call on the government to meet our demands for fair pay, pensions justice and job security.

Across the UK, tens of thousands of members had taken action and joined picket lines and lunchtime rallies in many places including Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow and Edinburgh, London and Manchester, organised in many cases jointly with other striking unions and attended by thousands of people.

Thousands of PCS members paraded down Embankment towards Downing Street as part of the strike action, led by the PCS Samba Band.

Long-time PCS supporter, MP John McDonnell joined the strikers as they began their parade and said: “I have absolute solidarity with the strikers. We can’t continue on when civil servants are treated with such disrespect and are paid so little.

“We can’t allow our civil servants to be forced into poverty in this way. Trade union after trade union has taken industrial action today, coming together to force the government to act.”

At our rally outside Downing Street, PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka was full of praise for the tens of thousands of members on strike today and had a defiant message for the government: "Our message to Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt is we are not going away. We can't afford not win because there is a crisis of poverty and morale in the civil service. If all the staples of life are going up 16% and you have a pay rise of 2%, you have got a crisis in your cost of living."

Watch the videos of the London march and rally on our Facebook page.

In Belfast more than 500 braved the freezing weather to attend a rally. Unite marched down to join PCS, then Nipsa, UCU, GMB and Unison.

Great turnout in Trafalgar Square

Thousands of union members then went on to Trafalgar Square for a joint union rally to call for better pay and conditions for public sector workers.

Members of PCS, Prospect and the National Education Union gathered in front of a stage near Nelson’s column to hear speeches.

Thousands of people cheered as PCS President Fran Heathcote, took to the stage and gave a speech at the rally.

She told strikers: “We want to send a clear message to this government today. When they tell us they don’t have enough money to pay us a decent wage, tell us we have to put up with worse terms and conditions, and lower pensions, because it’s all about the economy and what they can afford, let me tell you this: they are lying.

“If we’re going to defeat them, we have to unite like never before. That means joint campaigns, joint demands, joint activity. It also means coordinated, joint strike action so that we can put the maximum pressure on this government, and that’s what worries them the most.

“Today has been huge, it’s been a fantastic show of strength.”

Mark also spoke at the rally, praising all the different unions who were on strike. He told the crowd: “What a fantastic turnout, everyone here should be proud of what you’ve done today, and you should remember this day as the day we all stood up and made a difference.

“What I want to say to all our educators who are on strike, the Tories may moan about the disruption, but I say this, the best lesson young people can learn, they have learned today. It’s about solidarity, it’s about standing up for yourself when other people are treating you badly, and it’s about the fact that while Jeremy Hunt knows the cost of everything, you know the value of everything, including your own importance to our future.

“On a personal note to our junior doctors who are here today: the last time you were on strike, I was in hospital for five months having a heart transplant and it was you that kept me alive. It was because of you I’m here today. We stand with every junior doctor and health worker.

“I also want to say solidarity to RMT, Aslef and all the other workers who are striking today.

"To our PCS members: we have 133,000 people on strike today in over 130 government departments. These people are all on strike, and we are proud of each of our members who have taken action today.

“What we’re saying is: absolutely no way, we are not having it, and we’re going to strike until we win.”

Email your message of support to editor@pcs.org.uk and for more coverage from today see our live blog and find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and on the hashtags #PCSonStrike #BlameTheGovt

Strike rallies - 15 March

When 133,000 PCS members are on strike on 15 March, we are planning major rallies, marches and demonstrations across the UK, which we are urging everyone who is able to join.

Once they have attended their picket lines we are asking all members who are able to join rallies we are part of, alongside other unions. We want the government and employers to see their workforce protesting and demanding fair pay. So, bring your banners, flags and voices.

• Aberystwyth (with NEU, UCU) Assemble 12.30pm at the main entrance Aberystwyth University, Penglais, Aberystwyth SY23 3FL– march to St Paul's Methodist Church, Queens Road, Aberystwyth SY23 2NN. Rally at 1.30pm.

• Belfast (with NIPSA) Assemble 12.30-1.30pm, outside Erskine House, 20-32 Chichester Street, Belfast.

• Cardiff (with WTUC, NEU, Prospect, RMT, UCU): Outside Ty William Morgan, UK Government Offices, 6 Central Square, Cardiff, CF10 1EP. Assemble at 11.30am for rally between noon and 1pm.

• Edinburgh (with UCU) on The Mound EH2 2EL, beginning at 12.30 pm

• Glasgow (with STUC, UCU, RMT) on the steps by the Donald Dewar statue in Buchanan Street G3 3NY, beginning at noon

• London assemble at Embankment Tube at noon. March leaves at 12.30pm, rally at Downing Street at 1pm, move to Trafalgar Square by 1.45pm for a rally with other unions. All members on strike in Greater London are encouraged to attend. Transport for delegations from the English regions is being booked through branch secretaries subject to assurances that picket lines are all covered.

Are you part of an event where you live? Email the details to editor@pcs.org.uk

More than 130,000 PCS civil service and public sector members going on strike on 15 March 2023

With more than 130,000 PCS civil service and public sector members going on strike on 15 March we are aiming for 1,000 picket lines across the UK. 

Find details of picket lines here: 15 March picket lines 

The list is growing daily

Budget Day Strike - Wednesday 15th March 2023

PCS has announced an escalation of its targeted strike action programme and a one-day strike of 100,000 members in the civil service and public sector on Budget Day, 15 March.

Our national executive agreed the escalation of targeted action and the latest walkout of all civil service members on 15 March in response to the lack of movement from the government on our demands on pay, pensions and job security. Our strategy calls sustained action in targeted areas where we can exert significant pressure on the employer, supplemented by all-member action called when its effect can be maximised.

The targeted action in areas including Border Force, DVLA, DVSA, DWP and Rural Payments Agency, has been highly effective so far. While the all-member strike on 1 February was brilliantly supported with more picket lines than ever before – 500 in total – and in areas that have previously not had organised pickets.

The second wave of targeted action gets underway in the DWP in Liverpool, Bolton and Stockport this week, and over the course of the next month will involve members at the British Museum, DVLA, Animal and Plant Health Agency and Border Force. Find out who is striking when.

We are also currently balloting members in HMRC, Care Quality Commission, Companies House, National Museum of Wales, Office of Rail and Road, UK Export Finance, VOA and Welsh Government, to ask them to join our civil service strike action. If, as hoped, they beat the 50% legal ballot threshold, a further 33,000 members will join 100,000 PCS members in 123 government departments who have already passed the threshold in striking on 15 March. And in Northern Ireland a ballot of members employed by Home Office, MCA, ICO and Heritage Lottery Fund starts on Thursday (9).

The NEU has also called all-member action on 15 and 16 March, and there is a possibility that other unions will also take action on 15 March.

Not a member? Join PCS online.

Get involved in the campaign. Contact organising@pcs.org.uk to find out how you can get active in your union

Show us your support

If you are a supporter we have made it easier for you to donate to our strike fund. You can make an online donation in just a few clicks and even add your own message to the strikers.

You can also contact your MP – using our new e-action - and ask them to support our campaign on pay, jobs and pensions.

Our national claim

Our national pay claimcalls for a 10% rise and a living wage of at least £15 an hour. 

Inflation has hit a 40 year-high in the UK, meaning millions of people are suffering a cost-of-living crisis.

Tens of thousands of our members are struggling through the spiralling cost-of-living crisis, as illustrated in our cost-of-living survey and in response our annual delegate conference agreed to ballot after our union rejected yet another derisory civil service pay remit. This was on top of years of plummeting pay.

Our national claim calls for:

1) Cost of living rises

For 2022, in addition to progress on coherence of pay scales, we are also seeking a cost of living rise of 10%.

2) London weighting

On top of the national salary points that we are seeking to negotiate, we are seeking a London weighting payment, incorporated into consolidated pay, of at least £5,000 per annum, with no detriment to any worker currently entitled to more than that.

3) A Living Wage

Underpinning all elements of our claim for 2022, we are seeking a living wage of £15 an hour.

4) Annual leave

We are seeking improvements in annual leave provision to at least 35 days per year on entry; with no detriment to any worker currently entitled to more than that.

5) Working week

We believe that the time is right to consider what the future world of work might look like and how workers might benefit from new technology and from more flexible ways of working. We are therefore seeking a significant reduction in the working week with no loss of pay.

6) Pay coherence

PCS has a long-standing objective of securing a return to national bargaining on pay and terms and conditions covering all workers in the civil service and its related areas.

The PCS picket lines started early this morning and members from the Border Force were out in the dark braving the cold in Hull at 4:30am.

Messages of support have been coming in from across the world, with the India Labour Solidarity Tweeting their support for the 1 February strikes and a workers' organisation in Turkey Tweeting "We hope your action will be successful and give inspiration to all workers around the world.

Closer to home, West of England Metro Mayor, Dan Norris sent a message to say "I appreciate the real depth of emotion that has led to this strike action.....The country is suffering through the fastest fall in wages recorded and workers are entitled to fair pay."

Fiona, a rep for Prospect union said "I want to offer my support for the industrial action today by many public sector workers and immediate colleagues. I am a rep for Prospect and we are currently balloting for Industrial Action too. Our collective voices are powerful & I hope our efforts will be successful. Good luck with your action."

Matt Wrack, general secretary of the FBU, Tweeted "Solidarity with @pcs_union members on strike today". John McDonnell MP, chair of the PCS parliamentary group, visited the PCS picket line at Heathrow and tweeted a solidarity message. Meanwhile our general secretary, Mark Serwotka, has been visiting picket lines this morning and been interviewed on the BBC, ITV, Sky News and the Jeremy Vine show on Channel 5.

At Bromley driving test centre, the two pickets there said "Hoping even the two of us at Bromley makes us and our cause more visible. We either fight for our cause or sit back and accept what the government choses to do with us." Other picket lines are varying from two members to over 30 pickets and supporters.

On the picket line at Hove JCP, Darren is one of 4 young members who joined PCS in the last week. He says "We are extremely worried that closing Hove Job Centre this year is ripping the heart out of the community. Claimants can't afford to go up to 5 miles to the new site in Brighton, and local businesses will struggle without the custom of us as staff."

Reports of the strike's impact are already coming in. In EFRA South West and South Wales, 100 members are out, leading to a reduced service, with the business not able to respond to customer queries across Defra Group. In the Senedd Commission at Ty Hywel, 200 members are out and Senedd business has been cancelled for the day.

The passport office in Newport is empty and passport processing will  be delayed.

At DWP Derbyshire, 200 members are out and the managers aren't covering the work as they are all too busy watching the pickets!

#PCSonStrike is trending on Twitter. Have a look at @pcs_union

Big turnout at Home Office, Waterside in Leeds, where around 200 members are on strike on blustery picket line along a busy main road. Lots of public support and honks from passing Royal Mail vans and the public, with asylum decision-making disrupted.

Great turnout at the Disclosure and Barring Service in Liverpool, with 350 staff on strike.

Lots of great photos and video on the PCS Facebook page, have a look, give us a like and send us your messages of support. 

*Breaking news*

Our strikes are having an impact, The British Museum is completely closed to the public with around 80 PCS members on strike. 

This is the message on their website:

"Due to industrial action on Wednesday 1 February, the Museum has taken the decision to close today. This is not a decision taken lightly and we apologise for any inconvenience this may cause."

At the Home Office, Vulcan House in Sheffield, 10 members have been on the picket line with a new rep recruited and very few staff in the office.

DWP South Humberside branch reports well-supported action with the number of staff crossing picket lines minimal. And excellent support from the public. Managers have been tied up for 2 hours 'babysitting' picket lines. Sadly the wind versus PCS flags competition ended Wind 2, PCS flags 0.

Massive solidarity 

We've had lots of solidarity messages coming in.

PCS Parliamentary Group chair Chris Stephens said: "PCS members who are striking today are inspiring millions of others to fight for fair pay and pension justice. This is a just strike. Keep fighting, enough is enough. The government can't keep treating people this way. You're owed 10%. Good luck everybody, stand up and fight."

Fellow MP Kate Osborne joined 3 of 500 PCS picket lines taking place across the country.

She said: "I'm in solidarity with you, fighting for better pay, terms and conditions and pensions. You'll always see me on a picket line."

MP Nadia Whittome was full of praise for our strikers: "Massive solidarity to every PCS member striking today. 

"Civil servants are among those essential workers who keep our society running. It's not millionaires and billionaires."

She said our members deserve to be paid properly and have proper conditions at work.

"Today the whole of the union movement is standing united, we're not going to be divided by this Tory government, or by employers. Keep demanding better and keep going," she added. 

Musician Dan Donnelly of The Levellers showed his support at the DWP City of Sunderland picket.

Send messages of support and solidarity to those on strike by emailing editor@pcs.org.uk

Why we are on strike

PCS members having been sharing why they are on strike today.

Alice Booth, a rep at the Cabinet Office told us: "I'm here today because we deserve a 10% pay rise.

"We deserve a pay rise that is in line with inflation. And I'm so happy to see so many workers out across the country today. Victory to all of us. We deserve to be treated fairly and this government just has to listen to us."

Chris Marks, a DWP rep, spoke to us outside Caxton House in London sent solidarity to "all the rest of the PCS pickets out today, as well as colleagues in the NEU, Aslef, and the UCU."

Disruption

There are reports of DWP services being affected by our action. Appointments have been cancelled at Warrington jobcentre. And there were no appointments at Leigh jobcentre, with appointments also cancelled at a cold and windy Widnes jobcentre, while at Torquay jobcentre many diaries were closed and essential appointments were prioritised.

At the Manchester airport picket where there has been targeted action, there was support from passengers on the line just outside terminal 3 arrivals.  

One office was closed and courts amalgamated, with senior managers doing junior roles, as 90% are out at Dundee Sherriff Court. 

Only about 20 out of more than 400 staff are in at Defra, Lancaster House in Newcastle. The virtual call centre for the Rural Payments Agency has been impacted. Defra, Natural England, Marine Management Organisation and RPA's operations have been impacted from members not being at work.

At the port of Newhaven, the army has been called in to do passport checks with Border Force officers on strike. 

Superb picket lines

Kate from DfE Sheffield said "the picket line was huge. I've been a rep for many years and we've had nothing as big. Members from all grades, apprentices to managers. There was such a great vibe we all stayed until past 11am. We had flag twirling, dancing to Steps, and loud and passionate mass singing with our own versions of Pet Shop Boys and Human League classics. Absolutely superb."

At the Scottish Government site at Atlantic Quay in Glasgow it was the strongest picket line support in the branch’s history. For many, the first time attending a picket line.  At a time when many members are working from home, lots of members made the journey in to specifically support, and stand with, the picket line. The branch covers 11 sites and at least three offices were closed, with an impact on delivery of support to Scottish Government Ministers and benefit delivery.

At Blackburn, Rochdale and Hemel Hempstead Jobcentres PCS strikers were joined by striking teachers from the NEU on the picket line. CWU members delivering the mail and driving post vans have refused to cross our picket lines at many sites.

Hull jobcentre estimated 80% of staff were out. At one point eight management staff were at the entrance ensuring staff who wanted to cross the picket line could, but this was causing its own disruption. There were so many managers there that they were blocking the entrance and delaying the staff getting in!

At National Galleries Scotland, in Edinburgh, the building was closed with limited security and 1000 people rallied outside.

**Update on Manchester Airport** – the military were covering primary controls but we have had reports of errors, including incorrect endorsements given to travel documents and counterfeits being allowed through.

DVSA Musselburgh Driving Test Centre said all tests were cancelled and there was superb support from passing motorists.

The local press and radio stations have also visited many of our pickets lines and interviewed members. In Liverpool, DWP North Liverpool reps Moe and Geoff were interviewed by the Liverpool Echo.

Photographers Phil Rees in Wales and Timm Sonnenschein in Birmingham have been out covering picket lines today. Timm got some picture of PCS president Fran Heathcote visiting picket lines and talking to members in Birmingham.

Listen to Fran's interview with BBC West Midlands. 

Marches and rallies

After doing their bit on the picket lines, PCS members have taken part in rallies and demonstrations in towns and cities, many joining up with other unions on strike today. There has also been a large amount of support from the public.

At the rally in Leeds, Mohamed Shafiq, chair of the PCS national black members' committee, and NEC members, received a cheque for £500 for our strike fund from Leeds Trades Council.

Around 5,000 people joined union members and supporters joined a march in Bristol and hundreds gathered for a lively rally in Truro.

There was a sizaeble group of PCS strikers on the march in central London, ending in a rally addressed by Mark Serwotka and other union leaders.

Grade Pay collides in MOD Pay shame

The spot rate salary for E2 grades in the MOD will overtake the E1 band minimum in April. Increases to the National Living Wage (NLW) will impact the lowest paid.

PCS has consistently warned MOD about the consequences of the NLW increasing whilst the Government pushes down on civil service pay. This situation was entirely foreseeable and avoidable. 

MOD's solution? Cutting the paid hours worked, from 42 to 37, so that the hourly rate could be manipulated to encompass the minimum wage increase. This would be a contractual change; no PCS member should contemplate cutting their hours and missing out on 250 hours of pay increase every year.

This is a problem entirely of MOD's making and is the combination of austerity, deliberate pay restraint and the national living wage increasing faster than other MOD salaries. PCS has joined other MOD Unions in calling the Department to an urgent pay forum to discuss the consequences of the increase in wages for the lowest paid in MOD, which is welcomed, and the effect that this will have on other pay bands and grade differentials. We want to know what your employer is going to do to solve this problem they have created. 

MOD can resolve this by paying a real living wage to all and understanding the rampant inflation that is affecting PCS members. This will not be achieved dangling single-figure percentage pay increases in front of people that can't pay their bills. The Department cannot recruit and retain staff with the skills it requires; it does not pay wages needed, leaving staff to exit MOD in search of better pay, or get poorer working for the UK government.

Join PCS, the union that is taking action alongside other PCS members striking for pay rises that genuinely reflect the cost of living.

Justin Thomas - Group Sec. DSg

One Day Strike - 1st February 2023 

PCS national executive committee has agreed to call a one-day strike on 1 February of all members in employers where the turnout passed the 50% threshold required by law for action in our ballot last year.

Members can check if your employer is included in the action by checking the list of departments that achieved over the 50% threshold and voted for strike action.  

The strike on 1 February will be the largest civil service strike for years and signals a significant escalation of industrial action after a month of strikes over pay, pensions, redundancy terms and job security. It coincides with the TUC's 'protect the right to strike' day announced yesterday.

As the cost-of-living crisis worsens, with inflation at nearly 11%, members are saying they’ve had enough of being treated appallingly. Our campaign is for a 10% pay rise, pensions justice, job security and no cuts in redundancy terms. We have carried out sustained action in targeted areas which is building pressure on the employer in the Border Force, RPA, DVSA, DVLA, National Highways and DWP. The action will be coordinated with other unions taking action, as well as the launch by the TUC of a campaign over pay and jobs, which will include events in several UK cities.

If you are not striking on 1 February, please visit picket lines and attend any other campaign activities organised on the day.

A Facebook live event open to all members in the dispute will be held on 25 January - details here

Industrial action is a last resort. But so far, the government has refused to discuss our demands. 100,000 PCS members on strike on 1 February will increase the pressure on the government.

Thank you for your support. 

Mark Serwotka - General Secretary                             Fran Heathcote - President

Temporary Strike Fund Levy

Our targeted strike action started in December with members in the Home Office Border Force, in the Department for Transport by driving examiners and Highways Agency staff, in the Rural Payments Agency and in the Department for Work and Pensions all taking action. 

The action has been very successful, causing significant disruption to government operations. Despite the government using the army to try to cover the action, there has been no full border service. Thousands of driving tests have been cancelled. The action in the RPA, which pays subsidies to farmers, is escalating. Strikes by DWP members have won huge community support. Every day there has been unprecedented media coverage of PCS action. 

See who is Striking and when here

Members taking targeted strike action are doing so on behalf of every PCS member who was balloted in our national dispute. So we cannot ask them to lose money and they are being reimbursed their full pay during the action from our fighting fund. 

The government has responded to our hard-hitting action by telling the media we will run out of money to pay the strikers. But we are adding a temporary strike fund levy to members’ subscriptions. It will be £3 a month for members earning less than £24,000 and £5 a month for members earning £24,000 or more. This will raise more millions of pounds to be used to fund members taking targeted action. This approach will minimise the financial impact of the industrial action on members at a difficult time for everyone.

The levy is a crucial part of winning. Sustained action will enable us to highlight why the government is wrong and bring more pressure on ministers to negotiate on our demands for a 10% pay rise, pensions justice and job security for PCS members in the UK civil service and related bodies.

We will start collecting the levy in subscriptions from 1 February and it will run until May. If we are still in dispute, we will consult you on extending the levy. 

See this link for Questions and Answers about the levy Temporary Strike Fund Levy Q&A

Thank you for your support. 

Mark Serwotka - General Secretary                             Fran Heathcote - President

Further strikes announced in DWP

PCS has served formal notice on DWP that we are extending the strike action that is being taken as part of the national campaign. Further strikes will take place from Tuesday 3 January to Saturday 7 January 2023.

Benefit Processing members in Doncaster Crossgate House, a threatened closure site, have been on strike since Monday 19 December, and are joined tomorrow by the rest of the PCS members, including the Jobcentre, at the site. All members in the building will now take strike action during the first week in January, usually a busy one in Jobcentres.

Similarly, members in Toxteth, City and Duke Street Jobcentres in Liverpool have taken strike action from 19 December. Toxteth Jobcentre is also under threat of closure, and the two nearest Jobcentres have taken action alongside Toxteth members in order to maximise pressure on the employer. As well as extending the action in these three sites up to, and including Saturday 7 January, we are now asking members in two other nearby Jobcentres, Everton and Innovation Park, to join the action from 3 January, which should reduce DWP’s ability to respond to the strike action by moving work or staff. This extension of action in Liverpool Jobcentres will also come in what is traditionally one of DWP’s busiest weeks for Jobcentre activity.

Please send messages of support to dwp@pcs.org.uk

Not yet a member? Join PCS online today.

Over 300 more members at the Rural Payments Agency to join strike action

All PCS members in RPA Workington and Newcastle will join customer service centre members who are already on strike.

More than 300 PCS members working at the Rural Payments Agency are set to join the union’s strike action next month.  

The move almost quadruples the number of members taking action at the agency, with the 120 call-centre workers who walked out in Workington, Newcastle and Caernarfon from December 13-17 being joined by all 301 colleagues in Workington and Newcastle from January 3-6 and 9-13. 

The roles affected include those working for the British Cattle Movement Service, on the Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship schemes as well as those who administer import and export schemes and pay grants to farmers and rural businesses. 

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “We’re holding true to our promise to escalate action. Our members have been offered just 2% during a cost-of-living crisis when inflation is above 10%, so it’s no wonder they’re angry. 

“Workers at the RPA provide services for farmers and many others in our rural communities and pride themselves in the levels of customer service they provide. 

“But after years of seeing their pay cut in real terms and threats to their pensions, jobs and redundancy terms, this becomes stressful and the temptation to find a job elsewhere because it pays better gets stronger.” 

Not yet a PCS member? Join online today.

Donate to the PCS strike fund to suppport members taking action

Our strike fund makes it possible to support members financially when they are striking and therefore not being paid by their employer. The fund can make it possible to win workplace campaigns.

Members already contribute 50p a month to the fund through their PCS union subscription but can make one-off or regular additional donations as they wish.

How to make additional donations

The simplest and best way to donate is to pay directly into our strike fund, either as a one-off payment or through a standing order.

The bank details are:

•        Account name: PCS Fighting Fund Levy

• Account number: 20331490

• Sort code: 60-83-01

Anyone choosing to pay via standing order should quote either their PCS membership number or National Insurance number.

We want to let you all know what is happening to Civil Servants in Defence

MOD and DE&S/SDA want staff to pay for the cuts to wages with annual leave. They will allow you to sell back your precious time off so they can claim to be helping you through the cost-of-living crisis.

This attack on terms and conditions is deplorable, impacting those who must use leave for caring responsibility or factor travel costs with leave, causing discrimination in the system. This is leave you have already earned, they pay you for it; then you have less time off, more working time and they have more productivity.

PCS recognises members of staff may take up the opportunity to sell back their leave not through choice but financial necessity. All Defence staff know the cost-of-living crisis is brought about by government policy stretching back to 2010. You have endured pay freezes, controls and restraint that have cost you 20% in real terms with continued zero or under inflation pay offers. 

Selling back leave is just the latest stunt to make them feel good; to let them off the hook of genuine pay to counter inflation.

Private sector pay is averaging 6.9% and public sector pay only 2.7%. The government choose to treat you like this, believing you a captive audience. Only by our own collective organising will we be able to combat these egregious attempts by the employer to cut terms and conditions and generating supposed productivity increases by making you work longer and harder. 

Join PCS and get all your colleagues to join too. This is why we need a big bold union, standing up to the employer in a valid and active way.

Justin Thomas - Group Sec DSg

Border Force Officers to strike over Christmas

Border Force officers at locations in England, Scotland and Wales are to take strike action for eight days over Christmas. 

PCS members employed by the Home Office on passport control will take action at London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Glasgow airports on December 23, 24, 25, 26 28, 29 and 30 and 31.

Members will also strike at the port of Newhaven on the same dates.

The strike comes after 100,000 PCS members in 214 government departments and other public bodies voted to take strike action over a 10% pay rise, pensions justice, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms. 

It follows strikes announced in the Driver and Vehicle Standard Agency (DVSA), Rural Payment Agency (RPA), National Highways and Department for Work and Pensions. 

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “The government can stop these strikes tomorrow if it puts money on the table. 

“Like so many workers, our members are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. They are desperate. They are being told there is no money for them, while they watch ministers giving out government contracts worth billions of pounds to their mates. 

“Some sections of the media have accused us of playing politics with these strikes. Let me be clear: our dispute is with the employer. 

“We will fight to improve our members’ pay, terms and conditions regardless of who is in Downing Street.” 

PCS Targeted Strikes

The first wave of targeted industrial action, designed to apply the maximum pressure on key areas as part of our campaign for a 10% pay rise, pensions justice, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms, is due to start on Tuesday 13th December. 

Cabinet Office update

General secretary Mark Serwotka met with minister for the Cabinet Office Jeremy Quinn MP on 22 November. Stressing the poverty of members of the government’s own workforce, Mark called on government to provide more money now. Unfortunately the Cabinet Office have not made any proposals that address our demands.

Email the prime minister

We are asking all members to email prime minister Rishi Sunak, calling on him to give us the pay rise that we deserve. Civil servants did not cause the cost-of-living crisis that is impacting on all of us. We have been subjected to over a decade or real-terms pay cuts and now is the time to say enough is enough.

Click this link to send an email – it will take you less than a minute to complete.

Now is the time to pay us what we deserve. We cannot afford to be left behind again.

Yours in solidarity - The PCS Campaigns Team

PS – If you know a colleague who is not a member of PCS ask them to join today and email the PM too. #TellSunakToPayUp

PCS Targeted Strike Action and Strike Fund

Thank you for delivering the highest vote for action in the history of our union.

We promised you when you voted that the first thing we would do would be to seek negotiations with the government. We have told them that they must find money now to alleviate the cost-of-living crisis and deal with our legitimate aims on pensions and redundancy pay. 

While those talks are ongoing no proposals have been made from the government to avert the need for us to call strike action. So, on Friday our NEC agreed what the first wave of strike action would focus on sustained targeted action in key areas to build maximum pressure on employers and the government. The first strikes will take place in the Home Office, Defra and the Department for Transport, starting in mid-December and running over the Christmas period.

Members taking action on everyone's behalf will receive strike pay because nobody should lose money when they are taking action on behalf of others. To pay those striking members on your behalf we will use our strike fund, which will soon stand at £4million. This means we will be able to pay for significant strike action but we need to raise more. That is why the NEC also agreed to put in place a short-term levy  of all members involved in the dispute of £5 a month, or £3 a month for our lowest-paid members. That will raise millions of pounds more with a guarantee to you that every penny raised can only be used to pay either you, or your colleagues, when we call you out for targeted action.

Watch our latest campaign video

I know many people are worried about being able to afford an extra £3 or £5 a month. But by doing this it is a lot less money than you would lose every time we called a one-day strike, and it gives us a much better chance of winning.

We believe next year we will still have to call national action by all members. But when we do, we want it to have the maximum effect. So, we're currently talking to other unions about joint action with hundreds of thousands of other workers out with us, maximising our impact on the government.

By paying into the levy, supporting your colleagues taking action on your behalf, and coming out when we call you out, this is a dispute we can win.

Let's stick together, raise the money we need and take the action that can pressure the government and achieve a decent pay rise. 

Mark Serwotka - PCS General Secretary

PCS NEC announces programme of targeted strike action

PCS has today announced the start of its programme of sustained industrial action.

PCS members in the UK Civil Service returned a massive average Yes vote for industrial action across the areas balloted of 86.2%, the highest percentage vote in the union’s history. 126 employer areas crossed the 50% turnout threshold required by law for strike action and returned a majority Yes vote.

We met with the Cabinet Office this week, but they did not make any proposals that address our demands for a 10% pay rise, pensions justice, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms. Therefore, the union’s elected national executive committee (NEC) met today and agreed an initial programme of hard-hitting, targeted action in the Home Office, including the Border Force, across the Department for Transport and in Defra, affecting ports, borders and all areas of transport. 

The NEC will be meeting again to consider further strikes if there are no proposals from the Cabinet Office made soon.

We currently have a significant strike fund and have today taken steps to raise significantly more money to support our members striking for a sustained period and carry the campaign on into 2023 if necessary.

PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka said: “PCS members are angry. They helped to keep this country running during the pandemic, and in return, have been treated appallingly by this government. With inflation now at 11.1%, it is inconceivable that they are expected to cope with yet another real terms pay cut.

“With tens of thousands of members on poverty pay it is no longer about tightening belts, but about choosing between heating and eating – and that is simply not acceptable for the government’s own workforce.

“We have made it clear to the Cabinet Office that we are available for talks throughout this period. I hope that they do the right thing and come back to the table prepared to meet our demands. If not, then we are prepared to do what we need to do to show them the value of our members' work once they withdraw their labour."

PENSIONS

PCS is campaigning for pensions justice for our members who have been overpaying for their pensions since 2019.

Since 2015, there have been 2 important developments which directly affect civil service pensions. In 2018, the first scheme valuation confirmed the PCS view that the future cost of the scheme had been exaggerated for political reasons. Soon after the government lost its case at the Court of Appeal which found unlawful age discrimination in the way the 2015 changes were introduced.

Legal Action

Since then, PCS has campaigned for the implementation of the 2% reduction in employee contribution rates recommended by the scheme board, but the government has announced that it is treating the cost of the remedy arising from the court case, referred to as the McCloud judgement, as employee cost. PCS believes that this could effectively cancel the cut to the employee contribution and along with other unions is taking legal action.

In December 2021, the government quietly changed the outcome of the 2016 pension scheme valuations, which means it is making scheme members pay for the shambles it has made of their pensions.

Judicial Review with other Unions

The contribution the government is asking members to make to their pension will wipe out the 2% overpayments they are still owed from the government and have been owed since 2019. So far from rectifying the situation, ministers have made it much worse.

This latest development caused anger across the public sector unions and an application for a judicial review has been made jointly with GMB, FBU, POA and Royal College of Nursing.

PCS NATIONAL ACTION

• PAY

• PENSIONS

• JOBS

• REDUNDANCY TERMS (Civil Service Compensation Scheme)

We are now in a position to call significant industrial action in support of our claim for a 10% pay rise, pensions justice, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms. 

The PCS national executive committee (NEC) has now sent a letter to the Cabinet Office demanding meaningful negotiations on our claim. Unless substantial proposals are received from the Government the NEC will agree a programme of industrial action at its meeting on Friday 18 November.  

Action involving all members in the areas which meet the legal requirements would be called to have the maximum effect, including coordinated action with other unions.

Members taking sustained action in targeted areas to put major pressure on the Government will receive significant financial support from the union. 

PCS will continue the campaign to win what you deserve at work. 

See the results in full including in your employer area.

Mark Serwotka - PCS General Secretary 

DEFENCE - PCS NATIONAL STRIKE BALLOT

Unfortunately neither MoD (Main) or Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) achieved the 50% threshold and will not be participating. Of those voting 68.72% and 69.77% respectively voted for action.

Defence Science & Technology Laboratory achieved the threshold with 80% of those voting, voting Yes.

PCS NATIONAL STRIKE BALLOT

• PAY

• PENSIONS

• JOBS

• REDUNDANCY TERMS (Civil Service Compensation Scheme)

The PCS ballot for strike action in the UK civil service and related areas over pay, pensions, jobs and redundancy terms closed on Monday 7 November and the ballot papers have now been counted.  The votes of members in each individual employer have been counted separately.  

We have achieved a fantastic result with a massive average Yes vote for industrial action across the areas balloted, 86.2%, the highest percentage vote in the union’s history. 

126 employer areas crossed the 50% turnout threshold required by law for strike action and returned a majority Yes vote. Industrial action can be held in these employer areas. The average turnout across all balloted areas was 51.6%

We are now in a position to call significant industrial action in support of our claim for a 10% pay rise, pensions justice, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms. 

The PCS national executive committee (NEC) has now sent a letter to the Cabinet Office demanding meaningful negotiations on our claim. Unless substantial proposals are received from the Government the NEC will agree a programme of industrial action at its meeting on Friday 18 November.  Action involving all members in the areas which meet the legal requirements would be called to have the maximum effect, including coordinated action with other unions. Members taking sustained action in targeted areas to put major pressure on the Government will receive significant financial support from the union.  

PCS will continue the campaign to win what you deserve at work. 

Yours sincerely, 

Mark Serwotka - PCS General Secretary 

The 126 Government Departments where PCS members have reached the 50% threshold and voted for strike action

•     ACAS 
• British Museum 
• Cabinet Office 
• Charity Commission 
• Maritime & Coastguard Agency 
• Scottish Public Services Ombudsman 
• Natural Resources Wales 
• Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service 
• Independent Office for Police Conduct 
• Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) 
• Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) 
• Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) 
• Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) 
• Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) 
• Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) 
• Audit Wales 
• Audit Scotland
• Department for Education 
• Natural England 
• Competition Service 
• Gambling Commission 
• Historic England 
• Health & Safety Executive (HSE) 
• Historic Environment Scotland 
• Home Office 
• Insolvency Service 
• HM Land Registry 
• Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) 
• Creative Scotland 
• National Galleries of Scotland 
• National Museums of Scotland 
• National Audit Office 
• National Lottery Heritage Fund 
• Department for Transport 
• National Library of Wales 
• National Museums Liverpool 
• Gangmasters & Labour Abuse Authority 
• Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) 
• Ofgem 
• Competition & Markets Authority 
• Office for National Statistics & UKSA 
• OFWAT 
• Ofsted 
• UK Intellectual Property Office 
• Vehicle Certification Agency 
• Planning Inspectorate 
• National Archives 
• Registers of Scotland 
• Transport Focus 
• Sports Grounds Safety Authority 
• Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 
• Equality & Human Rights Commission 
• Scottish Enterprise 
• NatureScot 
• Scottish Government 
• Serious Fraud Office 
• Skills Development Scotland 
• The Council of the RFCAs 
• Sport England 
• Scotland’s Commission for Children & Young People 
• RFCA West Midlands 
• Scottish Courts & Tribunals Service 
• Legal Aid Agency 
• UK Research & Innovation (UKRI) 
• Visit Scotland 
• Government Legal Department 
• Parole Board for England & Wales 
• Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA) 
• Wallace Collection 
• Senedd Cymru (Welsh Parliament) 
• Scottish Human Rights Commission 
• Scottish Prison Service 
• Scottish Parliament 
• Student Loans Company 
• Architecture & Design Scotland 
• Higher Education Funding Council for Wales 
• National Highways 
• Westminster Foundation for Democracy 
• Independent Living Fund Scotland 
• Rural Payments Agency 
• Defence, Science & Technology Laboratory 
• Electoral Commission 
• Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) 
• Security Industry Authority 
• UK Space Agency 
• Marine Management Organisation 
• Youth Justice Board  
• Local Government Boundary Commission for England 
• Northern Ireland Office 
• Prisons & Probation Ombudsman 
• Wales Office 
• Courts and Tribunals Judiciary 
• Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority 
• Children’s Commissioner for England 
• Food Standards Scotland 
• Crown Estate Scotland 
• Risk Management Authority 
• Local Democracy & Boundary Commission for Wales 
• UK Debt Management Office 
• Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) 
• Social Security Scotland  
• Scottish Housing Regulator 
• Revenue Scotland 
• Department of International Trade 
• Bord na Gaidhlig 
• Forestry Commission England 
• Scottish Forestry 
• Leasehold Advisory Service 
• Forestry and Land Scotland 
• UKSV (Cabinet Office) 
• Disclosure and Barring Service 
• Veterinary Medicines Directorate 
• Institute for Apprenticeships 
• Office for Students (OfS) 
• Transport Scotland 
• Accountant in Bankruptcy 
• Disclosure Scotland 
• Education Scotland 
• Office for the Scottish Charity Regulator  
• Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) 
• National Records of Scotland 
• South of Scotland Enterprise 
• Trade Remedies Authority 
• UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) 
• Office for Health Improvement & Disparities (OHID).

Inside The Deteriorating Relationship Between Ministers And The Civil Service

This detailed article by the Huffington Post explores poor conditions in the Civil Service and in particular the deteriorating relationship between the government and their civil servants.

“Ministers make out that we’re lazy or bloated to the press but behind the scenes we’re told they’re happy with our work,” says one civil servant. 

“We’re considered to be faceless pen pushers, bureaucrats and all these accusations of bloat. But we’re real people too, we’re also taxpayers and we’re doing real work” - a current civil servant

A male civil servant of more than 20 years said ministers were creating a “toxic environment” with their comments. He said some colleagues were suffering with burnout and their mental health and whole areas were struggling with staffing levels. 

A survey of 12,000 PCS members found more than 9 per cent had claimed benefits and 8 per cent used food banks to get by as inflation soars.

“People like me are tired,” a former civil servant added. “Why give our all when it simply is not valued, and politicians are free to make absurd claims without basis and without response?”

Read the full story here: Huffington Post - Politics

Civil Service Compensation Scheme (CSCS):  Union anger over 26% cut to Civil Service Redundancy Pay

Trade unions have reacted angrily to government plans to cut civil servants' redundancy pay by an estimated 25.9%.

It comes as ministers seek to reduce civil servant jobs by 91,000. The PCS trade union accused the government of wanting "to get job cuts done on the cheap". The Prospect union said it had "no confidence" the government consultation on the plans were being "carried out in good faith". 

Full story here: BBC News - UK Politics

Civil Servants leaving at the highest rate for 10 years despite the headcount rate

While the government plans to cut headcount back to 2016 levels across civil service departments  44,220 people left the civil service during 2021-22 anyway;  a massive increase compared to the previous year, when 27,830 left. 

Full story here Civil Service World

PCS National Strike Ballot

Your PCS national executive met this week and agreed to run a national strike ballot for 6 weeks from 26 September, on:

• PAY

• PENSIONS

• JOBS

• REDUNDANCY TERMS (Civil Service Compensation Scheme)

The government wants to cut 91,000 civil service jobs by 1 April, 2025 and continue to suppress your pay, while the cost-of-living spirals to record levels. It is thanks to the government and those that came before it, that your living standards have been attacked relentlessly for over a decade and it’s time to say we have reached the last resort and we need to take strike action to fight back.

And all the candidates standing to be our next prime minister want to cut taxes for the wealthy at the expense of public services, so we are gearing up for a big fight with whoever wins because we believe the civil service needs more resources, not fewer.

Delegates to the PCS national conference in May decided we should hold a national statutory industrial action ballot. The need for us to deliver a strong result in this ballot has never been greater. 

You haven’t had a pay rise for over 11 years and you’re missing out on at least £2,800 each year. The pensions robbery means you’re still overpaying into civil service pensions by 2% each month. The government is having another go at slashing your redundancy pay, even though we defeated them on this in the High Court in 2016.

We have decided to ballot in September because a lot of work is needed. We need you to ensure we have got accurate postal records of where you live so you get your ballot paper.

We are calling for:

• a 10% pay rise

• a Living Wage of at least £15 an hour

• an immediate 2% cut in contributions that our members have overpaid to their pensions since 2018

• no further cuts to redundancy terms

• and a job security agreement, coupled with the resources desperately needed to deliver public services.

​​​​​We intend to take industrial action that will hurt the government. This will include action in areas where the government are vulnerable. We will build pressure over a sustained period which the government, whoever it is led by, cannot ignore. 

We are talking to our public sector colleagues and our aim, if we get yes votes with turnouts above 50% for industrial action, is to talk to those other unions about trying to take action together.

Get ballot-ready 

You need to get ballot-ready by registering and logging into PCS Digital and updating the personal details we hold for you. Also, ask your colleagues to join PCS.

The law dictates that you can only vote in this national ballot by post. You therefore need to give us a personal postal address in order to be able vote.

If we are united and determined, we can stop the government’s disgraceful attack on our livelihoods and win a fair deal.

Watch the latest national campaign video below.

Mark Serwotka - PCS General Secretary

Smarter Working Toolkit and Hybrid Working

Please find at the below link the PCS Defence Sector  group's Smarter Working Toolkit designed to provide advice to members on how to navigate your way through the MoD’s current Smarter Working policy, in the wake of COVID-19.

Toolkit here: PCS Smarter Working Toolkit

Updated June 2022

This toolkit is PCS guidance for members, focusing, in particular, on Hybrid Working. Hybrid Working refers to the ability to work part of your time from home and part of the time at your workplace and is one of the options available as part of the MoD’s wider Smarter Working and Future Workplace Strategy. The other options are Location Specific working, Mobile Working and those formally designated as Homeworkers, all covered in this toolkit. It also details the general Hybrid Working policy that covers all MoD staff but DE&S staff will be subject to a DE&S specific policy.

Smarter Working Myths (taken from the toolkit)

Some misunderstanding has arisen around Smarter Working and the new Hybrid Working opportunities. As previously stated, Hybrid Working arrangements are informal, not contractual, and have no impact on already established terms and conditions. Hopefully the following will clarify some of the misunderstandings around the new arrangements. Some of these myths will be addressed in more detail later in the toolkit:

Hybrid Working means a change to Flexible Working Hours (FWH) – Hybrid Working has no impact on current FWH arrangements. You can operate a Hybrid Working agreement, working from home for part of your week, and continue on FWH. Exceptionally if changes are required to your FWH agreement, in order to accommodate Hybrid working, these will need to be the subject of consultation with PCS.

Part time workers can’t use Hybrid Working - Part time workers should be able to agree a Hybrid Working arrangement, just as their full-time colleagues. There are numerous working patterns across the department, but all working patterns are open to the Hybrid Working conversation with the line management concerned. Part time workers should also have a Hybrid Working agreement on a pro-rota basis.

Once agreed the Hybrid Working pattern cannot be changed - The working week doesn’t have to be set in stone, the key is to have the conversation between the individual and the line management and agree the broad outline of the working week. Workload can change and an individual’s circumstances will change, the point is to agree a revised Hybrid Working pattern when circumstances change.

You must attend the workplace for the appearance of fairness amongst colleagues - The ability to work from home is linked to your role and some roles will require greater attendance in the workplace than others. The idea that it is unfair for some to be able to work from home more than others and that some attend the workplace simply to match their colleagues’ attendance, to seek a false equivalence, is discouraged by the department and would be a form of presenteeism, attending the workplace for the sake of it and not directly linked to your role.

Line managers are to attend the workplace more often - It is not a given that line managers are expected to attend the workplace more often than their team. There may be a requirement for some line managers to attend the workplace more than their team but this will depend, like all else, on the particular line management role. A line manager can maintain contact with their team via the tools we have been using since 2020, Skype, Teams etc., just as many have been doing whilst WFH and they do not have to be in the workplace to keep in contact, nor should they feel obliged to attend the workplace if some of their team are in on a regular basis. This is not to say that a line manager should routinely deny their team the opportunity to WFH whilst they themselves WFH, that is never a good look, but if a line manager has some of their team who wish to attend the workplace full-time then it does not follow that they have to also attend the workplace, in order to ‘supervise’. In addition, leaders within the MoD are to set an example regarding WFH and should ‘own, champion and role model Smarter Working’ (Establishing the MOD Future Workplace, p6).

You must attend the workplace for 40-60% of your working week - This figure is given only as an example in the MOD policy, when suggesting time WFH. Unfortunately, in some areas it is becoming a restrictive quota, leading to some line management stating that the policy directs that full-time staff, for example, must work a minimum 2 days per week in the workplace, and the 40-60% figure is also used to impose a three-day week in the workplace:

We will not impose quotas about time spent on-site versus time spent working remotely but people will typically work remotely more than ever before (as a broad average this could be 40-60% of time remote, for some this will be more and for others less). This will be dependent upon the activity and outcomes to be delivered, including taking into consideration personal circumstances. (Establishing the MOD Future Workplace, p10)

WFH for 40-60% of your time may well be the agreement you reach with your line management but it should be based on your role, not an arbitrary figure plucked from the air. The 40-60% example given in the policy sits amongst direction against the dangers of presenteeism and an unnecessary emphasis on face to face for its own sake.

Everyone must adopt Hybrid Working - Whilst Hybrid Working will offer opportunities for many to significantly re-design their working week some staff may wish to return to the workplace on the same basis as before the pandemic. This should be accommodated. If you have a Permanent Duty Station (PDS), a recognised place of work, then you can return to this PDS on the pre-covid basis. The MOD recognises that WFH will not suit some and that ‘it’s critical that we focus on providing flexibility and choice for our people’. Your choice may be to return to the workplace as before. You may not return to the same desk, or the same floorplate lay-out, as many areas will reconfigure their work area to adapt to the new ways of working, but you should be able to return to your site. If you do return to the workplace on the same basis as pre-covid, on your full conditioned hours, then you will still be able to WFH occasionally as the need arises. If this is not the case, you should contact your local PCS representative for advice.

91,000 Job Cuts - Defence impact

The government announced that they want 91,000 job cuts across the civil service. We are concerned that defence cuts would affect the defence sector in private and public sector jobs.

PCS in defence have pushed back against any suggestion that cuts should fall in defence. The MOD and agencies have not taken on 20% more staff since 2016, our calculations put it at 6-7.5%. All those new jobs were to support the governments essential aims in Defence, such as the cyber threat and increased nuclear commitments. Any cuts here mean that the government will not meet its own priorities. PCS have met with the Department with a clear message "there is nothing to cut here" and we will keep the dialogue open with further meetings to represent our members in UK Defence. 

The government will have a stark choice in the summer about which areas of defending the UK they want to stop doing. This is a choice for politicians and not for civil servants. This is a politically motivated attack on your jobs to make up for previous government failings; you will not pay with your jobs. PCS are campaigning hard to fight off the cuts in all areas of the civil service, DSg looks after our members in defence, and that is exactly what we will keep doing, campaigning for no cuts in defence; the more members we have the more effective we are, so ask your colleagues to join PCS here.

Justin Thomas -  Defence Sector Group Secretary

Pensions

1.  Age Discrimination

2015 Public Service Pension Reforms and the McCloud Judgement

In 2015, the government made changes to public sector pensions. The majority of civil servants were moved on to a new scheme called Alpha on 1st April 2015. The decision on whether someone was moved onto the new Alpha scheme or could stay in their current scheme was taken based on the age of each scheme member in April 2012. By April 2022, everyone will have been moved onto the Alpha scheme.

Those above the age of 50 were able to stay in their current scheme and not move onto Alpha, because they were within 10 years of retirement. Meanwhile, those aged 40 or over would be moved onto the Alpha scheme eventually but not straightaway. For everybody else, they were moved onto the new Alpha scheme immediately on the 1April 2015. This is crucial because: 

• Some members were disadvantaged by these changes due to a lack of protection when they were transferred from their previous scheme to Alpha. 

• The reverse is also true, as some members who would have been better off on the Alpha scheme were not allowed to join. 

This was confirmed in 2018 when the Court of Appeal found that the 2015 changes were discriminatory based on age. This is what is known as the McCloud Judgement.The McCloud Judgement makes it clear that the Alpha scheme itself and its introduction is not discriminatory. The decision relates to the way members were transferred to the Alpha scheme, which was done purely based on age. This meant some members were better protected than others because of their age alone.

Who is affected?

It’s important to note that the McCloud judgement doesn’t apply to everyone:

• To be eligible, you will need to have been on one of the old pensions schemes when the pension changes were made in April 2012. This means that you will be part of the Remedy Group (those who lost out and for whom a remedy must be provided by the government) if this applies and you were born on or after 1st April 1957. 

• Some members are part of a group of cases known as immediate detriment. This refers to members who are already out of pocket due to having already retired and have therefore been paid a pension and retirement sum smaller than they should be. These cases are most common among members who have retired early due to ill health.

Not eligible:

• All those who joined after April 2012 were automatically moved into Alpha on 1 April 2015 and are not part of this group.

The remedy

It is now the responsibility of the government to right this wrong. 

With everyone moving on to the Alpha scheme by April 2022, all members in the Remedy Group should have the option of having their pension calculated up to this point and will receive two sets of calculations, at retirement*. Individuals can then choose according to which calculation produces a better outcome. 

*Note: this is full retirement and does not include partial retirement.

This remedy will benefit those who moved on to Alpha and were disadvantaged, as well as those who would have been better off moving on to Alpha but were unable to do so.

This choice doesn’t have to be made until the point of retirement.

For those who retire on ill health or before the remedy is fully applied, they may miss out. PCS is currently taking legal advice on this and will keep members who are concerned updated on this issue.

The government announced new legislation aimed at rectifying the issues. The bill is currently making its way through parliament and the government has said the bill will become law in early 2022. Following this bill, the government will update the scheme regulations that will close the old pension schemes and transfer all remaining members onto the Alpha scheme. 

The regulations will also require the scheme administrators to reopen the cases of all members who retired since they transferred to Alpha and where they have lost out, to bring the pension up to the correct level, retrospectively to the date of retirement.

Those in the Remendy Group will be given a choice of pension benefits for the Alpha or the Legacy scheme for the Remedy Period of 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022.  A comparison will be provided to help make this choice which will be available to members at retirement or after 1 October 2023. 

Note: Pension scheme members (Remedy Group) who take their benefits before 1 October 2023 will be provided with their options and choice at a later date. 

Possible Legal action

The scheme has indicated that this may be subject to delay (the remedy will not be ready to provide calculations to those affected until October 2023) which PCS does not believe is acceptable and we are taking legal advice on this. These individuals will get details retrospectively after they have retired. For members in the immediate detriment group, PCS has been clear that those affected should not have to wait a day longer to get their proper pension amount. PCS is exploring with our lawyers several High Court test cases to force the government to make the additional pension payments immediately. We will ask members who meet the criteria whether they would be happy to be a test case for the High Court proceedings if selected.

2. Pension Valuation Scheme

2% Overpayments

The second pension issue is about the 2% overpayments you’re still making into your pensions every month. In 2018, the pension valuation scheme confirmed that the cost of the pension scheme had been exaggerated by the government. It was therefore recommended by the pension scheme board that monthly employee contributions should be reduced by 2%.

Soon after this announcement, the McCloud Judgement was published, including the details of the remedy the government was required to put into action. 

In an incredibly cynical move, the government announced that the cost of the remedy (for the McCloud Judgement) should be paid by you, the employee. This cost would completely wipe out the benefit from the 2% reduction in payments.

What is this costing me?

PCS members have been forced to overpay into their civil service pensions over the past couple of years and have ‘lost’ on average £1,000. Find out what it is costing you at our Pension Loss Calculator - SEE BELOW.

What is PCS doing about this?

This decision outraged PCS and many other public sector unions. PCS along with other unions with members affected have launched a Judicial Review of this decision.

Pension Loss Calculator

PCS members have been forced to overpay into their civil service pensions over the past couple of years and have ‘lost’ on average £1,000.

Use our calculator below to calculate your loss of earnings 

When you know your loss, use our e-action to tell your MP.  

Tell us about your financial hardships and what it would mean if you got back the money you have lost.  Email editor@pcs.org.uk