There have been penalties for those who looked the other way when Epstein was convicted of child sex offences and decided to maintain relationships with the financier — but not for the British ambassador to Washington, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES
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
Labour’s new Treasury unit will ‘challenge unnecessary regulation’ by forcing nominally independent bodies like Ofwat to bend to business demands — exactly what Iain Anderson’s corporate clients wanted, writes SOLOMON HUGHES
DR DYLAN MURPHY looks at a Big Brother Watch report which exposes the government as an enabler of DWP secret spying on benefit claimants
The EU faces a critical choice: will it remain in the shadow of an increasingly unreliable US ally, or will it forge its own path in a multilateral world where co-operation with China is essential, asks MARC VANDEPITTE as leaders meet for the EU-China Summit
A lot of discussion about how the left should currently organise – including debate on whether the Green Party is a useful vehicle for advance – runs the risk of refusing to engage with or learn from the reasons the left was defeated previously, argues KEVIN OVENDEN
For Egypt trade trumps the Israeli genocide of the Palestinians, but how long can the country’s ‘misleaders’ – and others in the region – continue their indifference against the popular will of their own people, asks ROGER McKENZIE
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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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
There is no stronger economy without the stronger wages that provide extra disposable income, which is why workers – including civil servants – must have their pay boosted in real terms, along with restored union rights and insourcing, says FRAN HEATHCOTE
