Health & safety

Atos and Fujitsu vote for action (John Moloney's column)

Our members in Atos have returned a firm majority in their ballot for industrial action over pay. On a turnout over 62%, nearly 90% of members voted to take strike action and just over 98% for action-short-of-strikes! The first action is scheduled to begin on 28 February, with plans for escalating action if their demands aren’t met. PCS members who work for Fujitsu Services have voted by 77.1% to take strike action and by 90.7% to take action short of a strike on a turnout of 80.4%. Again the dispute is over pay. The union’s national consultative ballot for industrial action over pay and the...

Diary of a firefighter: Two per cent for a Kevlar vest

It was a day of contrasts. In the morning, a primary school visit, the first the watch had done since Covid hit, to talk about what we do as firefighters and some basic fire safety. We spent an hour answering questions about why we wanted to join the brigade, what station life is like, and the almost mythic cats-up-trees rescues. This wholesome activity was immediately followed by a zoom call with senior officers about their plan to send us into active terrorist situations in ballistic vests alongside armed police. I know what I’d rather spend my time doing. This recent chapter in the saga of...

PCS prepares for ballot (John Moloney's column)

The union is gearing up for our consultative ballot for industrial action over the cost of living (14 February to 21 March). At my level, I’m involved in some of the background work, but the most important work has to be done at the grassroots. National communications can’t substitute for a base in the workplace. We have to inspire activists as we have a mountain to climb in getting the turn out. In that regard, Unison’s result in its local government ballot, where it got a 14.5% turnout, albeit it was all postal, is sobering. It should go without saying, but direct person-to-person...

Omicron: brake rush back to workplaces

Probably as a “populist” ploy to save Boris Johnson’s job, or failing that to make things easier for his successor, the government has announced the end from 27 January of all mask mandates, of all requirements to show NHS Covid passes, and of work-from-home guidance. Civil service bosses are pushing for return to offices. How far and fast that will go, and whether other bosses will do likewise, remains to be seen. Work-from-home has many downsides, not least for union organisation; but unions can and should resist hasty return-to-work, at least until new risk assessments and safety...

Look again at Section 44 (John Moloney's column)

With the withdrawal of Covid restrictions in England, there is increasing rhetoric about an employers’ drive to get workers back into offices. It’s not entirely clear as yet how that will play out across the civil service and whether departments will be setting quotas for the number of workers they want back. We’re meeting the Cabinet Office on Tuesday 25 January to discuss this. The Daily Mail is already promoting a narrative that union opposition to workers being forced back into offices is somehow sabotaging the country’s recovery. It’s clear that the Prime Minister is looking, using those...

Covid: “the moon is not a hamster”

As the Harvard University scientist Bill Hanage tweeted in early January: “Omicron is not endemic [settled into being a worrisome but manageable background factor] right now in much the same way that the moon is not a hamster”.

On 12 January Chicago teachers returned to in-person work, after a...

Opposing the two Bills (John Moloney's column)

On Saturday 15 January, I spoke at the “Kill the Bill” demonstration in London. The demo protested both the Policing Bill and the Nationalities and Borders Bill. We need an ongoing movement against both pieces of legislation, which represent a slide towards authoritarianism. The government’s war on migrants has direct industrial implications for our union (PCS) members who work in the Border Force. The government wants our members to drag migrant boats back towards France. Given that these boats are frequently overcrowded and unseaworthy, such a policy greatly increases the danger to the...

Ballot starts mid-February (John Moloney's column)

In mid-February, the union will begin a consultative ballot of our entire public sector membership as to whether they are willing to take industrial action. This will be wider than the UK civil service and will include members in non-civil-service public sector employers where PCS also organises. The campaign we’re launching is about the cost of living crisis now facing us. In a sense, there is a defensive or reactive element of the potential dispute, in that we’re responding to rising living costs. But there are several offensive elements too. Firstly, we’re demanding that the pay system is...

Moped courier protest in Bristol

On 5 January 2022 around one hundred food couriers in Bristol, riding mopeds, held a protest against violence and harassment while working. Their expensive vehicles are particularly targeted by thieves, and sometimes while the drivers are riding, which endangers them. As three years ago , this was organised by Brazilian moped couriers, independently of the union. As I wrote then: “Deliveroo[‘s insurance] does not cover the cost of equipment, or of money lost when unable to work because of theft or unrelated illness. “The inaction on behalf of the police is undoubtedly in large part because the...

Demands for levelling-up (John Moloney's column)

Our union’s (PCS) National Executive Committee met on 9 December, and agreed to conduct a consultative ballot of our entire civil service membership for industrial action over pay and pensions. This is wrapped up into our Cost of Living campaign. The ballot will cover the UK Civil Service and those of Scotland and Wales. The same NEC agreed our pay claim for next year. Those demands will include such things as the levelling-up of pay rates for all our members. As part of the campaign we are also demanding a decrease in employer contributions to the pension schemes. We know from the government...

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.