Draft motions on pay, multi-year pay deals, and public sector alliance for PCS conference 2008.
PAY 2008
1) This conference notes that:
a) in 2006 and 2007 many of our civil and public sector members suffered a real cut in pay as a result of Gordon Brown’s sub inflation pay policy for the public sector;
b) the inequalities in pay between civil and public sector members of the same grade but in different bargaining units remain as wide and as arbitrary as ever;
c) the number of bargaining units in the civil and public sector remains extreme by any standard and is a deliberate divide and rule policy of the government;
d) the blight of low pay, inadequate pay progression, and discriminatory performance related pay continue to blight thousands of members lives.
2) This Conference further notes that:
a) towards the end of last year the Cabinet Office finally said that it is willing to enter into meaningful talks with PCS with the aim of reaching an agreed settlement on our national campaign demands by the end of this year;
b) this offer of talks is a testament to the action and determination of our members;
c) on the basis of this offer the National Executive Committee (NEC) decided not to call further national industrial action while the talks take place;
d) since that NEC decision Gordon Brown has announced that the government wants to put into place three year public sector settlements based on his 2% pay cutting policy;
e) this announcement, along with the continued drive in 2007/08 to push down members real pay, reveals that the Government has no intention of reaching agreement with PCS on the basis of national pay bargaining and national pay rates, in which the living standards of the better paid members are protected whilst the pay rates of other members are brought up to the same level;
f) more particularly, in terms of the key national demands formulated by the NEC, the Government’s actions show that it has no intention of reaching agreement on the basis of:
o “pay increases which at least keep pace with the cost of living” and
o “A national pay system to end unfair pay that sees staff doing the same job paid vastly differing salaries”;
g) to date the talks with the Cabinet Office have not resulted in any report to members of serious movement by the Government to meeting our union’s more than reasonable national pay demands;
h) any national agreements on annual leave or maternity leave or other aspects of our terms and conditions of employment, whilst to be welcomed if they deliver genuine improvements for all members, by definition cannot resolve the national dispute over national pay and inflation proof increases for all members.
3) This conference applauds the industrial action undertaken by members in a numbers of areas over pay, such as Liverpool museum, DWP and Home Office and the campaigns for Departmental pay in areas such as DfT.
4) This Conference remains of the view however that the fight for national pay and for all members to receive at least a consolidated award equal to the rate of inflation against Brown’s national policy) must be a national campaign involving national industrial action.
5) Conference therefore agrees that, if the national talks do not result in the Government meeting our national demands for a fair national pay system and inflation proof awards for all or if the 2008/09 Treasury remit guidance fails or has failed to guarantee all members a consolidated rate of inflation award, the NEC must ballot all civil service and other affected members on industrial action plans agreed by the NEC in support of a fair national pay system and consolidated inflation proof awards for all members.
6) Conference therefore instructs the NEC to:
a) Significantly increase the national pay material to all members, immediately commencing after ADC 2008, including repeatedly highlighting:
• PCS pay objectives and the progress (or lack of it) made in achieving these goals through central talks;
• The reasonableness of PCS’ approach to date and the threat of three more years of pay cuts;
• the pay differentials between members in different bargaining bargaining units;
• how low pay and unequal pay translate into inequalities in pensions, pension lump sum and severance entitlements;
• the need for industrial action if the government persists in refusing our reasonable demands;
b) instruct each civil service Group and National Branch to issue regular all membership bulletins highlighting the impact of pay and therefore pension inequality in that Group;
c) prepare detailed plans for discontinuous national strike action, selective strike action, overtime bans, and a work to rule;
d) continue to press for co-ordinated industrial action amongst the wider civil service and public sector trade unions on pay but not as an alternative to PCS taking the necessary and timely action it needs to take in order to defend its members interests.
MULTI-YEAR PAY DEALS
This conference notes that:
• in 2006 many of our members suffered sub inflation pay increases and that in 2007 even more of our members suffered in the same way;
• only as a result of action and determination by PCS members did the Government agree to national talks aimed at settling PCS’ national demands including the demands for pay increases which at least keep pace with the cost of living and a national pay system to end unfair pay that sees staff doing the same job paid vastly differing salaries;
• nevertheless Gordon Brown has announced that the government wants to put into place three year public sector settlements where pay increases will average 2%;
• despite years of asking for national pay bargaining we still have the divide and rule approach of local pay negotiations;
• multi-year deals in any case make it difficult to involve all members in the key national demand for a fair national pay system.
Taking all the above factors into account this conference agrees that:
• PCS will reject multi-year pay deals;
• PCS should take national action against three year sub inflation deals rather than leave it to the Groups to fight;
• that our clear demand is for a fair national pay system and that Group and national Branch negotiations must not result in agreements that make the campaign for a fair national pay system harder.
PUBLIC SECTOR ALLIANCE
This conference recognises that the Government's policy of three year pay settlements valued at around 2% a year, their ignoring of pay review recommendations, and in some case their staged payment of awards, provides a material basis for an alliance between public sector unions to fight together for inflation proof pay awards.
Therefore this conference agrees that the PCS NEC must try to construct an Alliance of unions opposed to the Government pay polices on the basis of:
• at least RPI inflation proof consolidated increases for all in the public sector;
• full and separate Government funding of all equal pay settlements (including back pay) in the public sector;
• national pay bargaining in each sector;
• in each sector there be a harmonisation of rates to the best at each grade/band.
This conference recognises, given the diversity of leadership within the unions, that it might not be possible to construct such an Alliance via the TUC and therefore conference instructs the NEC to engage if necessary in bilateral and multi-lateral talks with individual unions to forge a united public secotr pay fight with a commitment to inflation proof consolidated increases as the essential demand.
Conference recognises that we need more than unity of the union leaderships, we need unity on the ground. Therefore this conference agrees that PCS will try to build rank and file unity of members of the different unions and of public service users via Trades Councils, local Public Services Not Private Profit groups and other relevant bodies and instructs the NEC to take whatever measures will enable PCS members, branches and regional committees to achieve this unity..
Notwithstanding all the above this conference agrees that if an Alliance of unions is not possible then PCS will have to fight on its own to win its national demands for pay increases which at least keep pace with the cost of living and a national pay system to end unfair pay that sees staff doing the same job paid vastly differing salaries.
