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A public sector pay freeze, which chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to announce next week, is a grave insult to millions of hard-working government workers whose dedication has kept vital services running during the pandemic.
The chancellor will set out his spending review next week, giving details of how much money will be allocated to different departments during the 2020-21 financial year. And he is expected to make the case for pay restraint to reflect a fall in private sector earnings this year. So once again it is UK government workers, who have suffered a 20% real-terms pay cut because of pay freezes and caps over the past decade who have to pay for a crisis.
This year during a time of crisis our members have:
- delivered the job retention scheme
- dealt with millions of Universal Credit claims
- kept our justice system running
- kept government running
- kept our transport network open
- kept our borders open and secure.
It is therefore crucial that PCS members and supporters show their disgust at the plans by signing our online petition for fair pay for UK government workers and force MPs to debate the issue in parliament. The petition has been signed by more than 75,000 people and once it reaches 100,000 it must be considered for debate in parliament.
It shows a strange sense of priority by this government that on the day that the Tax Justice Network has produced a damning report about the scale of global tax avoidance that the UK government is seeking to save billions from the wages of public sector workers, rather than clamping down on tax dodging corporations.
PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka said: “Civil servants along with millions of other public sector workers have kept the country running throughout this pandemic and the last thing they deserve is another pay freeze.
“Our members have been providing Universal Credit, collecting tax, securing our borders and prisons in this unprecedented pandemic and have already suffered 10 years of pay restraint.
"Private companies have been allowed to secure lucrative Covid contracts to the tune of £17 billion, yet ministers are not prepared to reward their own staff for all the incredible work they have done this year.
"If Rishi Sunak fails to pay public sector workers properly, there will be widespread anger and industrial action cannot be ruled out.”
09 November 2020 | PCS briefing
PCS demands more workplace safety measures as Covid restrictions increase
PCS has sent the Cabinet Office a series of demands for safe working, including making face masks and 2m social distancing mandatory in all civil service workplaces, as coronavirus community restrictions continue to increase across the UK.
With infection rates rocketing in many areas, PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka has written to Mervyn Thomas, Cabinet Office executive director for employee and trade union relations, ahead of a meeting tomorrow (22). He urged the civil service to “anticipate such developments and to prepare for the changes that undoubtedly are on their way” as Wales goes into a ‘firebreak lockdown’ from Friday, and Northern Ireland already in circuit breaker lockdown, while tighter restrictions are also in place in Scotland and large parts of England.
His letter detailed a number of action points:
1. Compulsory wearing of face masks in all civil service workplaces, as well mandatory 2m social distancing at all times
2. A renewed initiative to ensure as many staff as possible work from home that offices open to the public be closed where it is possible to provide services by other means.
3. Installation of air quality monitoring to measure CO2 levels in work areas
4. Ventilation of fresh air within workplaces
5. A commitment to provide 100% recycled air conditioning units with UV filters installed in all buildings.
6. End of hot desking.
7. Thorough cleaning of all workspace areas by trained cleaning staff with required standard of cleaning materials used.
Mark concluded the letter by stressing that all these actions should be overseen on a building-wide basis with a uniform approach in multi-occupied buildings and managed through building-wide joint union/management safety committees. This uniform approach should apply to contractors and private sector companies.
If you have concerns about workplace safety, contact your PCS rep or our coronavirus response team.
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UC Service Centres and JC Festive Leave
Date: 14th October 2020 | DWP/MB/142/20.
To:
Members in UC SCs & JCs, Department
for Work & Pensions Group
GEC negotiators met with Work and Health management on 8 October to discuss the proposed leave levels over the Festive period.
At the meeting we highlighted our concern that the % levels had been shared to site managers to work to before they had been discussed with the union. W & H management apologised for this and have undertaken to ensure that this is better managed in future.
Local discussions about additional flexibilityThe business has set minimum absence % levels for UC and have said that they will seek to agree additional local flexibility above these levels in discussion with local TU branches. It is important that these discussions take place in all branches before leave is confirmed so that additional flexibility can be agreed wherever possible.
They also confirmed that in sites where there is a high level of Non-working days during the period that there will be additional flexibility applied to the % levels so that the members in those sites still have access to reasonable levels of leave throughout the Festive Period.
Members in the office and WFH have equal access to leaveW & H management also agreed that it would be ensured that members in offices and working from home have equal access to leave over the period, with neither group either favoured or disadvantaged.
Negotiators highlighted that instances had been raised where the requests for leave had not been done as a “clean gather” where members are asked for their preferences for leave over the period without restriction to gauge the demand for leave accurately. W & H management agreed to re-iterate to site managers that this should be the way leave was gathered and if it was restricted to allow members to put down their genuine preferences before any decisions are made on who is allowed off.
W & H also gave a firm assurance that there should be no instances of “names in a hat” and that all decisions on leave requests should be made by managers on the basis of individual circumstances.
Autonomy over Face to Face meetings will ease pressure in JCs
The GEC made the
point that given the agreement of autonomy for Work Coaches to decide on the
best way that claimants can be supported it should be easier to manage the
numbers needed in JCs over the festive period. It was agreed that as no
pressure will be put on members to see claimants Face to Face, this will allow
the numbers in JCs to be kept at a minimum safe level to open if needed, and
that appointments could be managed remotely wherever appropriate.
Important to maximise leave after a hard year
In the talks the GEC negotiators made clear our view that after a trying year, where members have delivered for the public magnificently despite the huge problems the Coronavirus has presented, it is vital that members are given the opportunity to relax and spend time with their families.
W & H management agreed that all that can be done to agree members’ requests should be done and that requests should be looked at favourably wherever possible whilst maintaining the service to the public and numbers which ensure safety in the offices.
Annette Rochester - Group Vice President
Steve Swainston - PCS Group Assistant Secretary
Ian Pope - PCS Group Assistant Secretary
