After months of infighting and backbiting that led to a split in the Socialist Party (Militant) in it's strongest union base over support for the useless Chris Baugh the election has finally taken place. As widely expected the split in the "Left Unity" vote in a three way election allowed Independent Left candidate John Maloney to win the post of Assistant General Secretary.
In a statement to to the members the PCS
“Congratulations to John Moloney on being elected as the PCS AGS. I look forward to working with John in meeting the many challenges facing PCS members in the years ahead.
Commiserations to the unsuccessful candidates, Chris Baugh and Lynn Henderson. Chris has served the union as AGS for 15 years and made a significant contribution to PCS in that time, and previously as an activist in the union. I wish him well for the future."
Yeah right. Serwotka was behind the move to oust Baugh by replacing him with former PCS president Janice Godrich. This led to Baugh being removed as the official Left Unity candidate, caused a split in the Socialist Party and the creation of yet another Trot faction, Socialist View. Janice however became too ill to continue and Baugh managed to regain Left Unity's backing but Serwotka put up full timer Lynn Henderson as his preferred bag carrier.
As usual the turnout in the PCS elections was derisory, though slightly up on last year to just 10.5%. This means that the new AGS John Maloney has a mandate of just 3.7% of the total membership which has declined to around 165,000 under the far-left's rule.
How easy John Maloney and Serwotka manage to work together remains to be seen. Both are in the Labour Party. Both support Corbyn but Maloney (a member of the Alliance for Workers Liberty) has much better positions on issues such as anti-Semitism and the Middle East which may not seem like much of interest to ordinary PCS members but the PCS union devotes a considerable amount of it's time and money promoting the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
How easy John Maloney and Serwotka manage to work together remains to be seen. Both are in the Labour Party. Both support Corbyn but Maloney (a member of the Alliance for Workers Liberty) has much better positions on issues such as anti-Semitism and the Middle East which may not seem like much of interest to ordinary PCS members but the PCS union devotes a considerable amount of it's time and money promoting the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
No wonder it's membership has declined and most members disconnect with the politics of the union.
The National Executive Committee elections saw just 3 Independent Left members elected with the rest going to Left Unity and their fellow travellers. No change there except the Socialist Party is no longer the major influence.
The National Executive Committee elections saw just 3 Independent Left members elected with the rest going to Left Unity and their fellow travellers. No change there except the Socialist Party is no longer the major influence.
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