PCS: Conference backs unity call to fight public sector cuts

PCS: Conference backs unity call to fight public sector cuts

PCS: Conference backs unity call to fight public sector cuts

Delegates at the Public and Commercial Services union’s annual conference yesterday backed a major call for joint trade union action against cuts to public services.

The conference in Brighton, the first of any of the big public sector unions since the formation of the Tory/Liberal Democrat coalition government, unanimously agreed to launch a far-reaching campaign to defend jobs, pay, pensions and public services.

The union will now seek to work with other unions, the TUC and community campaigners to ensure the widest possible opposition to what are expected to be the most damaging cuts in public spending since the 1980s.

Opening the debate, PCS assistant general secretary Chris Baugh said: “The coalition government is threatening savage, swinging cuts demanded by the market, not the public.

“They exceed even those seen during the Thatcher years. We face a huge battle to defend the social advances we have enjoyed in the post-war years.

“We know that without a united campaign a chasm will open up between what we expect and what we find. That is why we are calling for action to defend civil and public service jobs, pay and pensions.”

The conference also outlined the next steps in the campaign to defend civil service redundancy terms in light of the union’s recent success in the High Court, where a judge ruled that cuts attempted by the previous government were unlawful.

PCS deputy general secretary Hugh Lanning said: “The legal judgement shows the government needs the agreement of the unions when they are planning to take away people’s rights. It is a last minute equaliser but the government is playing for extra time.

“We are calling for a fair scheme for all civil servants that covers all PCS members, all civil servants and is not age discriminatory. It must protect the value of people’s accrued rights.

“We need to keep the pressure on but this victory shows that our approach of taking legal, industrial and political action remains the right one.

“We need a new, negotiated agreement which is acceptable to PCS members, as confirmed by a ballot.”

Labour MP John McDonnell, chair of the PCS parliamentary group, also addressed the conference and paid tribute to the union’s members for refusing to back down in the face of attacks on their jobs, terms and conditions and the services they provide.

Tomorrow, the conference will discuss the circumstances under which PCS should stand or support trade union candidates in elections to give voters more choice. And the UK’s first Green Party MP Caroline Lucas will be the guest speaker on Friday morning.

ENDS

Notes

– For information and interview requests, contact PCS national press officer Richard Simcox on 020 7801 2747 or 07833 978216

– The Public and Commercial Services union represents civil and public servants in central government. It has more than 300,000 members in over 200 departments and agencies. It also represents workers in parts of government transferred to the private sector. PCS is the UK’s fifth largest union and is affiliated to the TUC. The general secretary is Mark Serwotka and the president is Janice Godrich

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