By David Niven, PCS – Defra NW & Cumbria Branch
In response to Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s November announcement of a public sector pay freeze to pay for the costs of the Covid pandemic, the UK’s largest civil service union, the Public and Commercial Services (PCS), has stepped up its national pay campaign.
This latest pay freeze comes on top of a decade-long period of pay restraint which has seen average salary levels in the Civil Service fall in value by between 8.8% (CPI) and 15.2% (RPI). The average civil servant is now £2,110 a year worse off, and as a result in-work poverty has now increased amongst the government’s own workforce to such an extent that 40% of DWP staff are entitled to the benefits they administer.
At the time of the announcement of the freeze, which will affect most public sector workers, PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka stated:
“Our members have been providing universal credit, collecting tax, securing our borders and prisons in this unprecedented pandemic and have already suffered 10 years of pay restraint.
“Private companies have been allowed to secure lucrative Covid contracts to the tune of £17bn, yet ministers are not prepared to reward their own staff for all the incredible work they have done this year?
“If Rishi Sunak fails to pay public sector workers properly, there will be widespread anger and industrial action cannot be ruled out.”
Mobilisation of PCS members
As part of the strategy to mobilise members, PCS branches have organised monthly payday protest events since the turn of the year, and more recently, the union organised online pay rallies in each of its regions and devolved nations, where the main focus has been the promotion of joint union campaigning on pay across the whole of the public sector. Speakers were invited from other unions and the TUC.
At the northern region rally Beth Farhat (Northern TUC Regional Secretary) and Tanya Prestwell (Unison health worker) spoke alongside Martin Cavanagh (PCS Deputy President). A number of key points were made including:
*That key workers including those across the public sector have made an immense contribution during the pandemic to keep the country going and to keep their fellow citizens safe.
*That further austerity and pay restraint remain political choices and not an economic necessity.
The government and its media outlets will attempt to sow division amongst workers to try and cut across solidarity with unions taking action to oppose the pay freeze
PCS will be encouraging joint union campaigns on pay both at local level and within the TUC General Council.
The PCS national pay claim for 2021 is for a 10% cost of living increase, which is required to start to restore the value of members’ pay that has been lost over the last decade.
PCS has been in the forefront
The PCS national conference is taking place in mid-June, and further key decisions on the union’s national pay campaign strategy will be taken at this point. In the meantime, branch reps will continue to carry out activities to mobilise members.
Throughout the last decade of austerity, PCS has been at the forefront of attempts to secure joint public-sector coordinated industrial action, on issues such as pay and pensions, when it has been clear that negotiated settlements with the government cannot be achieved.
Union members in my branch were very enthusiastic in the run up to the mass public sector pensions strike, involving around 30 public sector unions and 3 million workers, on 30th November 2011.
If that single day of mass industrial action had been followed up with further days of coordinated action, we could have derailed the ConDem government’s austerity programme. Unfortunately, due to the leaderships of some public sector unions, it wasn’t.
I believe that joint, coordinated action remains the key to defeating this government’s continuing austerity agenda.
