PCS

Public & Commercial Services Union - trade union for civil servants

What is "left wing" in PCS?

The elections for Assistant General Secretary and General Secretary of the PCS civil service union commence on 9 November (and close 14 December). The ruling Left Unity (LU) group is standing Paul O’Connor for AGS and Fran Heathcote for GS. The PCS Independent Left (IL), including AWL supporters, is standing John Moloney for AGS and supporting Marion Lloyd, of the Broad Left Network (BLN), for GS. All formally left-wing candidates, but proclamations of “socialism” are never a sufficient guide in trade union elections. PCS’s LU leadership love to make “left wing” speeches. Yet under their...

Just transition and curbs on aviation

Aviation sector bosses globally are pursuing rapid expansion despite the climate crisis, with the International Civil Aviation Organization predicting doubling of air traffic by the late 2030s. Even in the UK, with its already over-expanded aviation industry, the Government’s climate-indifferent “Jet Zero Strategy” endorses 70% expansion by 2050. Expansion plans have already been launched or greenlighted at airports around the country — though with strong opposition from community and climate campaigners. A key way the industry sells its antisocial agenda is job creation. Even before the wider...

PCS election is wide open

Elections for the posts of General Secretary (GS) and Assistant General Secretary (AGS) of the civil service union PCS will commence on 9 November (and close 14 December). The ruling Left Unity ( LU ) group’s candidates will be Fran Heathcote and Paul O’Connor. The historic critics and opponents of Left Unity, the PCS Independent Left ( IL ), will be standing John Moloney, the incumbent, for AGS and supporting Marion Lloyd of the Broad Left Network for GS. John Moloney has secured 87 branch nominations to Paul O’Connor’s 84 and Marion Lloyd 80 to Heathcote’s 90. Despite all their (ongoing)...

Vote Lloyd-Moloney from 9 November

The branch nomination period for the upcoming elections for General Secretary (GS) and Assistant General Secretary (AGS) of PCS, the largest civil service trade union, ended on 16 October. Voting will be 9 November to 14 December. Predictably, there are two sets of candidates: Fran Heathcote and Paul O’Connor, of the ruling Left Unity (LU) group, and Marion Lloyd and John Moloney, standing on a Broad Left Network and Independent Left ticket. There is a great deal at stake. In recent years PCS has been run by a small bureaucratic cabal of senior employed and lay officers on the basis of the LU...

PCS: vote for Lloyd and Moloney

Nominations for the General Secretary and Assistant General Secretary of the PCS civil service union closed on 16 October, and voting is 9 November to 14 December. Solidarity calls on readers to vote for Marion Lloyd and John Moloney. They are standing for a democratic fighting union and for rebuilding the national pay campaign, de facto trashed by the incumbent Left Unity faction. If elected they will take no more than their civil service workers’ pay, and return the rest of the bloated official salary to the union, as John Moloney already does. More here

Support Lloyd and Moloney in PCS!

Having killed the national campaign for cost of living pay awards backdated to 2022, the Left Unity (LU) faction leadership in the civil service union PCS is now presiding over below-inflation civil service pay awards for 2023. Yet they are keeping up the pretence that they have merely “paused” the campaign. It is a tactic they hope will help them win the elections for General Secretary (GS) and Assistant General Secretary (AGS) later this year: facing both ways to win the support of members who wanted the campaign to continue and members who did not want to strike. In doing so, LU is leaning...

PCS: nominate Lloyd and Moloney!

Many firebrands who have no political foundations drift or accelerate to the right as they get older or get power. Such is the case with Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS civil service union. When young, he genuinely was a militant, leading strikes. He was an inspiring speaker and a good organiser. That said, he never had a solid political foundation in Marxism or even social democracy or any other form of organised socialist thought. Workers' Liberty supported Serwotka in his 2000 bid to become the General Secretary. It was a breakthrough that a rank-and-file activist got the top...

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.