PCS Conference has got off to a bad start for Mark Serwotka and John McInally after a mass resignation of firstly 25 of the Group Executive Committee members in the Serious Organised Crime Agency (that's most of them) plus the suspended Reps including SOCA Group President David Tattam.
The crisis doesn't stop there. Reps are quitting right across the country, with the Northern Branch resigning in total, most of the ones in Central London and the South East going, with just two remaining in the Midlands.
This follows a disastrous attempt by John McInally who despite trying to be "nice" managed to alienate all and sundry. The whole future of the SOCA group in PCS is now in doubt.
There have already been SOCA members quitting PCS in disgust, but Mark Serwotka doesn't seem to either realise or care about the damage he is doing to the union. Nothing new there then.
Meanwhile...
The Independent Left have printed their latest conference bulletin on-line in which they bemoan the refusal of the Standing Orders Committee (SOC) to publish and debate motions of boycotting "sanctions", an issue that would be purely political rather than industrial and could leave the union open to legal action by the employer.
The author of this self defeating piece is non other than Charlie MacDonald a member of the virtually unheard of Alliance for Workers Liberty (AWL). This group were wonderfully described by fellow socialist Andy Newman over at Socialist Unity as "disputatious". And "shouty" too, truth be told.
He admits that with over a quarter of DWP staff not being in the union plus the fact that Management would discipline and probably sack anyone who participated in such actions the "boycott" would be a disaster, but should have been debated anyway. I'm sure delegates could do without an argument for the sake of it but these are Trotskyists we are talking about.
Back in the real world members groaned with despair when they found out they were going to be asked to strike again. The campaigns clearly failed but the Left Unity Grandees, their PCS Democrat fellow travellers and the head-cases of the Independent Left still want to carry on regardless.
I wonder how many more people will follow the SOCA members example?
as a PCS member and SOCA bod, I suspect that overall the people running the union don't really care too much about the SOCA group - after all 'bunch of coppers really, all bound to be right wing etc'. I think many in the PCS SOCA group are disenchanted anyway about belonging to a union that seems to more about Viva La Revolucion posturing and politicking anyway. Personally if it wasn't for the bigoted in another way stance of the Police Federation that prevents it(you were not consecrated in the sacred office of Constable and may not have worn a big hat so cannot join) then we'd be better off in the Fed - the proposed staff association will be too small to really have any clout
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