The National Executive Committee of our union, PCS, will discuss the Russian war on Ukraine at its meeting on Wednesday 9 March. The motion that will be tabled is a straightforward condemnation of Russia’s invasion and a call for Russian withdrawal.
It’s possible amendments will be tabled, but I haven’t picked up any pushback from any quarter within the union against that position, so I hope that the union’s formal position, once agreed, will be unambiguous. The motion also calls for the UK to open its borders to refugees.
Our consultative ballot for action over the cost of living crisis is continuing. It closes 21 March. We need a final push to get the vote out. Part of the purpose of the ballot was to stress the union and in particular engage our activist base after the long Covid pause. After the ballot we will have a wealth of information on how the different parts of the union campaigned. That will give us a firm base from which to propose improvements to our organising culture.
Members at Atos are considering an improved offer on pay following their vote for strikes, and members at the British Council are discussing next steps after returning a vote in favour of strikes over staffing cuts. PCS has also recently donated to strike funds for United Voices of the World (UVW) members at Great Ormond Street Hospital, and IWGB members working as couriers for Just Eat/Stuart.
I’ll also be proposing we help finance a UVW legal case which will soon heard in the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). UVW won a landmark legal decision at Employment Tribunal against Royal Parks, contending that outsourcing represented a form of indirect racial discrimination. Royal Parks is now appealing that; the case will be fought at EAT. Clearly it has enormous significance for the entire working class. I believe PCS should support that case, especially as we have dual-carding members in UVW and PCS at Royal Parks, and we organised the strikes with UVW.
I’ve also been supporting a local PCS branch in a campaign about racism in the Cabinet Office. Our pressure forced the Cabinet Office to commit to a review of all its practices in terms of racial equality, but at a meeting on 7 March, the branch has decided it doesn’t believe the department is carrying out that review seriously, and have voted to withdraw from it. I’ll continue liaising with the branch as it discusses the next steps for the campaign.
• John Moloney is assistant general secretary of the civil service union PCS, writing here in a personal capacity