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?
Monday, 20 May 2013
Sunday, 19 May 2013
PCS conference meets as crisis of confidence in union grows
Delegates have started arriving in Brighton for the 2013 Annual Conference of the PCS Union. This will probably be the last one in its' current format as the Government are shortly to remove all trade union specific facility time from reps across the civil service. This has already effected the DWP Group where delegates were not allowed special leave like the rest of their colleagues due to the apparent inept handling of negotiations by Left Unity.
As a result there will be empty seats in the DWP Group conference with many delegates unable to use their "annual leave" to attend. Those who are able to attend should support the South London Branch motion A103, previously published on this blog (http://howiescorner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/from-bums-on-seats-to-shoes-of-feet.html).
Of course the issue of "Facility Time" as important as it is to the survival of PCS as an effective union is not the only problem that delegates need to address. On Friday afternoon an "urgent" message for reps in the DWP (and HMRC) was sent out informing them that:
Given how badly recent turnouts have been, the leadership of PCS are determined to continue with their failed strategy. John McInally, PCS Vice President and Socialist Party hack writes:
This years election saw the lowest turnout ever in PCS elections with just 9.5% of members voting. In the DWP it was even less with just 8%. Given the Democracy Alliance didn't win all the votes cast, their "mandate", whilst formally legitimate, lacks the moral high ground that McInally claims.
Most members have disengaged from the unions internal affairs and none of the factions can claim to have the backing of any substantial number of members. This of course bodes ill for the future, especially with the PCS leadership making claims about the veracity of further strike action when all the evidence shows not only declining support for action (which was supported only by a small minority of members in the initial ballot) but fails to recognise that the continuing action has led to no movement by the Government who are more than aware of the real situation on the ground than the unions leaders are prepared to admit to themselves.
In a situation like this it would be better to withdraw, regroup and rethink the unions policies before there is a real disaster, but McInally belongs to the arrogant tradition of politicians like Margaret Thatcher in that he's not for turning. The ones that will suffer will be the members, and in the long term risks the future of PCS.
The fact that the political activists of the far left have become a "caste" of their own within the union are seemingly confirmed by the scandalous "retirement of Hugh Lanning, the former PCS General Secretary. He still had two years to run in post but was allowed to take "early retirement" on a whim it would appear and then miraculously re-appear a couple of weeks later standing for General Secretary of Napo (National Association of Probation Officers).
The fact that Mark Serwotka has "recommended" him to Napo members means that he and others were obviously well aware of Lannings plans in advance and questions need to be asked about this as if all he wanted to do was change jobs, why are members subbing him through a pension when the union is in financial difficulties. Oh, I bet its' all legal, but smacks of the "bankers bonuses" syndrome that they condemn constantly.
One last issue (for now) is the continuing crisis in the Serious and Organised Crime Agency caused by the intervention of the General Secretary and his sidekick McInally who have suspended the SOCA President and two Assistant Group Secretaries and forbidden them from even attending conference to explain or defend their decisions to fellow delegates.
The entire SOCA Group Conference has been hijacked by the PCS Grandees in an obvious attempt to stifle open and democratic debate, true Marxist style. It will be interesting to see how this develops both over the week and beyond. Go to:http://howiescorner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/pcs-serwotka-causes-crisis-in-soca.html for the background.
Contrary to the thoughts of Chairman McInally, PCS is actually becoming more and more isolated not only in the trade union movement, but in political life in general. Its' no wonder that members are switching off. PCS is now run entirely for the benefit of far-left political activists, that needs to change and change fast,
As a result there will be empty seats in the DWP Group conference with many delegates unable to use their "annual leave" to attend. Those who are able to attend should support the South London Branch motion A103, previously published on this blog (http://howiescorner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/from-bums-on-seats-to-shoes-of-feet.html).
Of course the issue of "Facility Time" as important as it is to the survival of PCS as an effective union is not the only problem that delegates need to address. On Friday afternoon an "urgent" message for reps in the DWP (and HMRC) was sent out informing them that:
As part of our national campaign to defend pay, jobs and conditions, all PCS members in DWP and HMRC are asked to take joint regional strike action from 3 June to 7 June.
All members in the following areas are asked to take a full day’s strike action....
Given how badly recent turnouts have been, the leadership of PCS are determined to continue with their failed strategy. John McInally, PCS Vice President and Socialist Party hack writes:
The re-election of the Democracy Alliance national executive committee is a real blow to the government's attempt to break PCS members' resolve.
The re-election of a fighting left leadership is a mandate to continue with the strategy of industrial action of varying duration and timing which is causing disruption and real concern among management. It is also an endorsement of the union's campaign against austerity.
The alternative promoted by PCS is now widely supported and is gaining further endorsement throughout the trade union movement and beyond.
This years election saw the lowest turnout ever in PCS elections with just 9.5% of members voting. In the DWP it was even less with just 8%. Given the Democracy Alliance didn't win all the votes cast, their "mandate", whilst formally legitimate, lacks the moral high ground that McInally claims.
Most members have disengaged from the unions internal affairs and none of the factions can claim to have the backing of any substantial number of members. This of course bodes ill for the future, especially with the PCS leadership making claims about the veracity of further strike action when all the evidence shows not only declining support for action (which was supported only by a small minority of members in the initial ballot) but fails to recognise that the continuing action has led to no movement by the Government who are more than aware of the real situation on the ground than the unions leaders are prepared to admit to themselves.
In a situation like this it would be better to withdraw, regroup and rethink the unions policies before there is a real disaster, but McInally belongs to the arrogant tradition of politicians like Margaret Thatcher in that he's not for turning. The ones that will suffer will be the members, and in the long term risks the future of PCS.
The fact that the political activists of the far left have become a "caste" of their own within the union are seemingly confirmed by the scandalous "retirement of Hugh Lanning, the former PCS General Secretary. He still had two years to run in post but was allowed to take "early retirement" on a whim it would appear and then miraculously re-appear a couple of weeks later standing for General Secretary of Napo (National Association of Probation Officers).
The fact that Mark Serwotka has "recommended" him to Napo members means that he and others were obviously well aware of Lannings plans in advance and questions need to be asked about this as if all he wanted to do was change jobs, why are members subbing him through a pension when the union is in financial difficulties. Oh, I bet its' all legal, but smacks of the "bankers bonuses" syndrome that they condemn constantly.
One last issue (for now) is the continuing crisis in the Serious and Organised Crime Agency caused by the intervention of the General Secretary and his sidekick McInally who have suspended the SOCA President and two Assistant Group Secretaries and forbidden them from even attending conference to explain or defend their decisions to fellow delegates.
The entire SOCA Group Conference has been hijacked by the PCS Grandees in an obvious attempt to stifle open and democratic debate, true Marxist style. It will be interesting to see how this develops both over the week and beyond. Go to:http://howiescorner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/pcs-serwotka-causes-crisis-in-soca.html for the background.
Contrary to the thoughts of Chairman McInally, PCS is actually becoming more and more isolated not only in the trade union movement, but in political life in general. Its' no wonder that members are switching off. PCS is now run entirely for the benefit of far-left political activists, that needs to change and change fast,
Saturday, 18 May 2013
A quick trip around the political "loons"
I had to laugh when I read this mornings edition of The Times. It seems that allies of the Prime Minister David Cameron have finally recognised that a lot of Tory activists are "mad, swivel-eyed loons". That's not going to win the PM and his chums many friends amongst the Tory "rank and file", especially at a time when the Conservative party is threatened by the rise of the UKIP.
However the rest of us will recognise that there is a certain truth to this comment as the Tories have always had their own form of the "Militant" tendency, one that is quite reactionary and xenophobic with Europe being at the centre of their grief with the party leadership. They also still bang on about single-sex marriages even though the rest of the country has accepted its' going to happen and moved on. That's the nature of "conservatism", lagging behind social and cultural change bleating on about an England that never truly was what they remember.
At the same time we saw Nigel Farage leader of UKIP get "mobbed" by the Radical Independence Movement in Edinburgh when he arrived to begin his electoral gambit in Scotland. According to reports in the media he was called "a racist" and at the same time told to "go back to England". I sometimes wonder about the logic, let alone the sanity of some of the groups that choose to protest.
Most of the actual demonstrators were students, and a quick look at their website you'll find some pictures and bios of the Radical Indpendence groups supporters. These include a fair sprinkling of the far left with members in the International Socialist Group (a Scottish breakaway from the SWP) , members of the Scottish Socialist Party, peaceniks and a former President of St Andrews Student Union, Patrick O'Hare whose CV includes supporting Arab revolutions whatever that is supposed to mean.
The fact is Nigel Farage is not a racist, nor is the UKIP related to the fascist far right in any shape or form. UKIP even bars former members of organisations like the BNP from membership in their constitution. That some have slipped through the net is not surprising given their recent growth but these malcontents are removed when exposed. They represent an old fashioned form of conservatism that has been alienated by the "posh boys" in the cabinet.
And anyway isn't telling someone to go back to England itself racist?
In any case the description of Tory activists as being "wide-eyed loons" sounds very much like the way I see the far-left activists that inhabit my trade union PCS. You should meet some of them!
They must share some of the same DNA it would seem?
However the rest of us will recognise that there is a certain truth to this comment as the Tories have always had their own form of the "Militant" tendency, one that is quite reactionary and xenophobic with Europe being at the centre of their grief with the party leadership. They also still bang on about single-sex marriages even though the rest of the country has accepted its' going to happen and moved on. That's the nature of "conservatism", lagging behind social and cultural change bleating on about an England that never truly was what they remember.
At the same time we saw Nigel Farage leader of UKIP get "mobbed" by the Radical Independence Movement in Edinburgh when he arrived to begin his electoral gambit in Scotland. According to reports in the media he was called "a racist" and at the same time told to "go back to England". I sometimes wonder about the logic, let alone the sanity of some of the groups that choose to protest.
Most of the actual demonstrators were students, and a quick look at their website you'll find some pictures and bios of the Radical Indpendence groups supporters. These include a fair sprinkling of the far left with members in the International Socialist Group (a Scottish breakaway from the SWP) , members of the Scottish Socialist Party, peaceniks and a former President of St Andrews Student Union, Patrick O'Hare whose CV includes supporting Arab revolutions whatever that is supposed to mean.
The fact is Nigel Farage is not a racist, nor is the UKIP related to the fascist far right in any shape or form. UKIP even bars former members of organisations like the BNP from membership in their constitution. That some have slipped through the net is not surprising given their recent growth but these malcontents are removed when exposed. They represent an old fashioned form of conservatism that has been alienated by the "posh boys" in the cabinet.
And anyway isn't telling someone to go back to England itself racist?
In any case the description of Tory activists as being "wide-eyed loons" sounds very much like the way I see the far-left activists that inhabit my trade union PCS. You should meet some of them!
They must share some of the same DNA it would seem?
Friday, 17 May 2013
Natural Justice and fair play the Serwotka way
The continuing crisis facing PCS members in the Serious & Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) took a new turn today as delegates to their Group Conference found out today. Apparently the meeting is now being run as an "Emergency Group Conference" which sounds all exiting until you find out that the whole event will be stitched up chaired by John McInally, PCS Vice President and Socialist Party "hatchet man".
There will be a meeting of the SOCA Group Executive (also chaired by McInally) before conference takes place. The notable absences will be SOCA President David Tattam and two Assistant Group Secretaries who have been suspended without "trial" and have been forbidden to attend either the GEC or both Group and National Conferences.
Of course the main topic up for discussion will be the events up to their suspension and GEC members will be presented with a one sided exposition of events as approved by Serwotka and McInally. The "accused" of course will not be able to defend themselves or offer their version of what has been going on. Democracy in action "socialist style".
Stalin would be proud.
On Monday delegates will be entreated to the new Standing Orders Committee report which replaces the previously agreed agenda with items approved by Serwotka and his cronies only. An exiting day is ahead as with McInally's opening speech being followed by the Dear Leader Mark Serwotka then droning on about whats going on about what delegates should accept as fact and how they have saved the unions credibility in SOCA.
Following Serwotkas diatribe delegates will be allowed to ask a few questions before they break for tea and return to hear a presentation from the PCS Campaigns department before more tea and another presentation before they disappear to the watering hole of their choice for the evening.
Of course the people they might want to hear an alternative view from won't be present. That's fair init!
The following day will be taken up by a composite motion written by the NEC, hijacking the whole issue in the wonderfully entitled Emergency Resolution One. If they are lucky they might be allowed to discuss issues that their members want them to, but in the time left after the highly controlled debate its' quite unlikely.
Readers will be interested to know that SOCA members are not being asked to take part in the next round of strikes taking place. Serwotka obviously doesn't want to provoke a backlash especially as he is well aware that the last time SOCA went on strike just 3% (that's 81 members out of 2,600) took part.
One thing that delegates might want to query (if they are allowed, John McInally isn't a fan of free speech as I found out last year) is why Serwotka has not allowed the ballot on the "deal" reached with Management to go ahead for the members of SOCA to decide for themselves.
Could it be that Serwotka is afraid he might lose?
Probably. Hence all this bureaucratic manoeuvring in place of democratic decision making.
Watch out for further updates.
Thursday, 16 May 2013
PCS Group elections, Napo and Hugh Lanning
The PCS Group (or Departmental) election results are being declared today, with results showing a further decline in participation by the membership in the unions internal affairs.
The first results to come my way were for the DWP Group which showed a quite awful turnout of just 8% of the members. In terms of numbers that means just over 6,000 out of 75,000 members taking part. The actual results were virtually "unchanged" from last year with Left Unity winning all but one seat which went to Joe Cox of 4themembers.
Particularly affected were the Independent Left, whose main base is in the DWP who polled under a thousand votes. This was in part due to their fratricidal infighting which led to a split between the mainly London AWL supporters and others resulting in virtually everybody that was ever in their group standing for election.
The only vote of any significance was for Lee Rock, the unfairly dismissed rep in Sheffield who polled higher than any other of his compatriots for Assistant Group Secretary. His profile obviously having been raised during the campaign for his reinstatement.
In the Home Office the Left Unity group polled poorly, with only ten of their supporters being elected (out of 35), helped by the lack of independents standing for the senior posts of President and Assistant Group Secretaries. The biggest surprise was the failure of John Bigger to get elected despite a high profile campaign to keep him from being made redundant. Other notable losses included Paul McGoay unsuccessfully stood for AGS and GEC, Rex Tyrrell & Anne-Louise McKeon-Williams.
In Revenue and Customs Lynda Priestley was re-elected Group President beating off Left Unity challenger Lorna Merry. Jake Wilde who lost his seat on the National Executive Committee can console himself with being elected as one of the two group Vice-Presidents. The other being Hector Wesley the unions cheer-leader for the Stalinist Cuban Government (go figure).
The turnout in the HMRC was low (and unpublished for some reason*) but higher than the DWP, which frankly couldn't be that difficult as this is the second largest group in the union.
* I hope to update this post later tonight or tomorrow.
Hugh Lanning and Napo
The recent posts about Hugh Lanning "retiring" two years and suddenly appearing as a candidate for the post of General Secretary for the National Association of Probation Officers (Napo) attracted some attention on their official forum and the following post appeared:
by Unionboy » Wed May 15, 2013 9:30 pm
The first results to come my way were for the DWP Group which showed a quite awful turnout of just 8% of the members. In terms of numbers that means just over 6,000 out of 75,000 members taking part. The actual results were virtually "unchanged" from last year with Left Unity winning all but one seat which went to Joe Cox of 4themembers.
Particularly affected were the Independent Left, whose main base is in the DWP who polled under a thousand votes. This was in part due to their fratricidal infighting which led to a split between the mainly London AWL supporters and others resulting in virtually everybody that was ever in their group standing for election.
The only vote of any significance was for Lee Rock, the unfairly dismissed rep in Sheffield who polled higher than any other of his compatriots for Assistant Group Secretary. His profile obviously having been raised during the campaign for his reinstatement.
In the Home Office the Left Unity group polled poorly, with only ten of their supporters being elected (out of 35), helped by the lack of independents standing for the senior posts of President and Assistant Group Secretaries. The biggest surprise was the failure of John Bigger to get elected despite a high profile campaign to keep him from being made redundant. Other notable losses included Paul McGoay unsuccessfully stood for AGS and GEC, Rex Tyrrell & Anne-Louise McKeon-Williams.
In Revenue and Customs Lynda Priestley was re-elected Group President beating off Left Unity challenger Lorna Merry. Jake Wilde who lost his seat on the National Executive Committee can console himself with being elected as one of the two group Vice-Presidents. The other being Hector Wesley the unions cheer-leader for the Stalinist Cuban Government (go figure).
The turnout in the HMRC was low (and unpublished for some reason*) but higher than the DWP, which frankly couldn't be that difficult as this is the second largest group in the union.
* I hope to update this post later tonight or tomorrow.
Hugh Lanning and Napo
The recent posts about Hugh Lanning "retiring" two years and suddenly appearing as a candidate for the post of General Secretary for the National Association of Probation Officers (Napo) attracted some attention on their official forum and the following post appeared:
Prospective General Secretary's
by Unionboy » Wed May 15, 2013 9:30 pmWednesday, 15 May 2013
Breaking News: Serwotka suspends PCS Reps in SOCA!
At 4PM this afternoon letters from the PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka were delivered to the President and other Reps in the PCS Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) suspending them from their positions in the union. They have also been told their conference attendance will not be permitted and PCS has written to Management telling them that the SOCA Reps no longer are accredited trade union Representatives.
The SOCA reps will be facing Rule 10 complaints (that allows for disciplinary action for "bringing the union into disrepute or in Socialist Party terms purging their opponents). Normally disciplinary action is not taken until after someone is actually found "guilty" by the PCS "Star Chamber". Not this time, Serwotka says he is "acting to protect the union". This extreme action by the far left PCS leadership is far from unexpected.
The background to this is the SOCA Group Executive negotiating a deal in the light of the removal of their right to strike in the a new act of Parliament due to come in force in October:
See: http://howiescorner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/pcs-serwotka-causes-crisis-in-soca.html
Currently PCS members have been denied their own representation in SOCA as the PCS centre has now taken over direct control.
The Reps were originally summonsed to an extraordinary meeting of the National Executive Committee which was run by Socialist Party Witch Finder General, John McInally. The SOCA President said that Serwotka and Godrich (the PCS President) should have shown respect by turning up to the meeting but were informed these two Grandees were doing "important things", which was looking at the PCS election results actually which were due at the same time.
There were strenuous attempts to get the SOCA Reps to resign, which they refused. Surely the members in SOCA are the ones who should decide who their representatives should be, not a coven of Socialist Party and SWP members on the NEC! So much for democracy!
One of the main issues that seems to have riled the PCS Grandees has been the establishment of a "Staff Association" which SOCA members appalled by the actions of the PCS leaders, have been flocking to in large numbers. Circulars telling members not to attend meetings have been falling on deaf ears and the future even of a rump PCS in SOCA is in abeyance at the moment.
According to reports, the Staff Association will be like PCS but without the "aggro" they have been getting from Serwotka and his cronies.
There will be more news to come. Watch this space!
The SOCA reps will be facing Rule 10 complaints (that allows for disciplinary action for "bringing the union into disrepute or in Socialist Party terms purging their opponents). Normally disciplinary action is not taken until after someone is actually found "guilty" by the PCS "Star Chamber". Not this time, Serwotka says he is "acting to protect the union". This extreme action by the far left PCS leadership is far from unexpected.
The background to this is the SOCA Group Executive negotiating a deal in the light of the removal of their right to strike in the a new act of Parliament due to come in force in October:
See: http://howiescorner.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/pcs-serwotka-causes-crisis-in-soca.html
Currently PCS members have been denied their own representation in SOCA as the PCS centre has now taken over direct control.
The Reps were originally summonsed to an extraordinary meeting of the National Executive Committee which was run by Socialist Party Witch Finder General, John McInally. The SOCA President said that Serwotka and Godrich (the PCS President) should have shown respect by turning up to the meeting but were informed these two Grandees were doing "important things", which was looking at the PCS election results actually which were due at the same time.
There were strenuous attempts to get the SOCA Reps to resign, which they refused. Surely the members in SOCA are the ones who should decide who their representatives should be, not a coven of Socialist Party and SWP members on the NEC! So much for democracy!
One of the main issues that seems to have riled the PCS Grandees has been the establishment of a "Staff Association" which SOCA members appalled by the actions of the PCS leaders, have been flocking to in large numbers. Circulars telling members not to attend meetings have been falling on deaf ears and the future even of a rump PCS in SOCA is in abeyance at the moment.
According to reports, the Staff Association will be like PCS but without the "aggro" they have been getting from Serwotka and his cronies.
There will be more news to come. Watch this space!
Striking is a means to an end, not an end in itself
The right to withdraw ones labour (or strike) is a fundamental right of any worker. Without this ability then we become slaves. That right has been fought for over the past century and more by millions of trade union members around the world, sometimes in the face of fierce reprisals, deportation or worse. All over the world trade unionists languish in gaol at the behest of undemocratic regimes and corrupt employers. The right to strike must be upheld, as must be the right to join a trade union without which led to the disaster in the Rana Plaza garments factory in Bangladesh.
At the same time striking comes with certain responsibilities, in particular to the members of the unions themselves. Unions exist to protect workers from the excesses of the employer through obtaining and defending employment rights, getting a better pay deal and protecting the individual worker from persecution through the collective of the union as a whole.
In recent years in my own union many members have retained membership not because they believe that the union is going to make large social gains for them, but as a clear insurance policy for themselves as individuals should they get into trouble. As unions have declined in strength and numbers over the last couple of decades that role has become more pronounced.
The general situation is changing, as I outlined in my post yesterday (see below), the whole role of the Labour and trade Union movement needs to be re-thought given the decline of the traditional working class and in particular the disappearance of unions across a wide swathe of the private sector. The TUC is currently dominated by the big battalions of the public sector and much work needs to be done to rebuild confidence in unionism in the vastly changed private sector.
Since the virtual demise of the miners' union the NUM, there have been few cases of unions being able to win concession based on their industrial strength alone. The most obvious example of this is the RMT led by Bob Crow (who politics aside) has made gains for his members on a regular basis. However whilst there have been strikes here and there which have resulted in gains there have been as many strikes where the unions were defeated. In the current climate the unions are facing a very strident anti-trade union Government and the public sector unions in particular have attracted the ire of Ministers.
This brings me to the current PCS dispute with the Government.
A dispute has now been on-going for some time, ostensibly over Pay, Pensions and Conditions of Service. However there has been a clear and quite forthright attempt by the far-left led union to try and manoeuvre other unions to get a "General Strike". That is clearly not on the cards and at the same time the Mark Serwotka/Socialist Party leadership has managed to fall out with both Unite and the NUT to whom they were looking for support. Simultaneously the PCS dispute has clearly floundered as less and less members take part in the continuing action.
For the PCS leadership it would seem just having the strikes has become an end in itself and there has been no movement by the Government on the issues concerned. Besides the fact that the Pensions issue is no longer a "live" issue, the changes are now being implemented and Pay will remain frozen a 1% increase (at most) for the vast majority of members (the others will get sweet FA, again), the remaining question of conditions of service remain a moot point. They won't affect current members in particular but future ones, so members (who are already struggling to cope in the current economic climate) are disengaging from the unions activities at an alarming rate.
The far-left leadership however are determined despite all the evidence to the contrary to continue the dispute. The reason for this is purely political in nature, not based on the actual needs of PCS members but for the aggrandisement of the Marxist sects to which they belong. For them just having the "fight" is an achievement since they hope in true Trotskyist "transitional programme fashion will bring the workers to see the futility of reformism and become revolutionaries to overthrow capitalism. Except it won't and is just out of date muddled last century ideology.
The trouble is they are able to maintain a certain hegemony over sections of the left who retain similar, but non-Leninist forms of socialist thinking through broad front organisations like Left Unity/Democracy Alliance in PCS). Many of the layers of trade union activists that exist in PCS (and other unions) are stuck in the mind-set of trade union political thinking that should have been ditched after the abject failure of the seventies. Given that this "conservative" layer of activists is well embedded in union structures and has interests in maintaining the ideological status quo, change is not going to be easy.
But change must come, and fast.
For more mainstream trade unionists operating in the unions is not without difficulty. Besides the more obvious hectoring and on occasion bullying that they face, there exists a pseudo-catholic form of "guilt complex" that generally keeps many reps "in-line". Move outside the socialist "box" and the consequences for the individual can be more than just undue pressure. But move they must.
With strikes having been continuing in the civil service for weeks now (and has anyone really noticed if they don't read the unions internal propaganda) and more planned the leadership are now beginning to risk the continued survival of the union. The time has come to say no.
We need to regroup, to rethink our ideas and prepare for the long-term unhindered by the chains of atavistic ideology. That is the challenge.
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