BEN CHACKO reports on fears at TUC Congress that the provisions in the legislation are liable to be watered down even further
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They attack us because we are winning
The outrageous minimum service levels legislation has been brought in to break the growing momentum of our movement — but these attacks won’t work, writes PCS general secretary FRAN HEATHCOTE
Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) on the picket line outside HMRC Queen Elizabeth House in Edinburgh, as civil servants in 132 Government departments walk out in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions, March 16, 2023
CHRIS HOOFE calls for support for GMB’s Potters’ Pledge campaign, aimed at making sure the historic pottery industry based in Stoke-on-Trent is supported over cheap, low-quality imports and counterfeits
Investing the £75 billion slated for defence spending on a green new deal, healthcare and education would create jobs and help communities far more than weapons spending, argues UCU general secretary JO GRADY
Speaking to the Morning Star’s Ceren Sagir, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists LAURA DAVISON outlines the threats to journalism from Palestine to Britain, and the unique challenges confronting the industry through the rise of AI
We must organise broad-based counterprotests and celebratory local community events to rebuild class consciousness and challenge the far-right’s divisive lies, writes KEVIN COURTNEY, ahead of this Saturday’s big demo in London
Artists should not be consigned to a life of precarious working – they deserve dignity and proper workers’ rights, argues ZITA HOLBOURNE
I AM so proud to be attending the PCS conference for the first time this week since I was elected general secretary. I love this union to bits, and it has got such a brilliant story to tell from the past 12 months.
We’ve been winning on bread-and-butter issues for members and we’ve been fighting on behalf of people all over the world. We’re going to need this determination and fortitude more than ever as this union and the country enter a new era.
Our conference this week gives us the chance to reflect on our national campaign and the historic gains that came from it. Our members took a record number of strike days in a winning strategy that included highly effective targeted action and all-member national action.
It was because of this action that we drew unprecedented concessions from the government. For the first time, the Civil Service pay remit, which covers the pay of our members, was increased. It wasn’t just increased; it was more than doubled.
We put more money in our members’ pockets, as the pay model also included a cost-of-living payment of £1,500. Elsewhere, the government dropped plans to slash redundancy pay by an eye-watering 33 per cent. It was a stunning victory and shows what this great union can achieve when we unite and fight back.
With our union and others taking record levels of strike action and winning, there’s an insatiable appetite from this rotten government to put a stop to it.
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In the current climate, it is vital to bust the myths and put forward the case for a humane and decent social security system that supports people, argues FRAN HEATHCOTE
Civil servants are worried that work they are being asked to undertake may be contributing to potential Israeli war crimes – and PCS will back back any member facing disciplinary action for refusing to work on arms export licences, writes general secretary FRAN HEATHCOTE
Public and Commercial Services union leader FRAN HEATHCOTE warns the Chancellor not to take an axe to the Civil Service – and points to measures that would genuinely improve the public sector
As the government ploughs ahead with £3 billion in welfare cuts, arbitrary office-return mandates, and below-inflation pay rises, women will bear the brunt through deepening poverty and increased caring burdens, argues FRAN HEATHCOTE
