“We need Fran and Paul as our leaders of PCS with a future Labour government to repeal the Minimum Services Level Act that is attempting to cut our right to strike by forcing at least 40% of our members into work.”
By Austin Harney
As a Labour Party member and a PCS Union Representative, I am campaigning for Fran Heathcote to be General Secretary and Paul O’Connor as Assistant General Secretary of PCS.
In her years as Vice – President and, now, President of PCS, Fran Heathcote led a campaign against union busting! Unlike the United States, we do not have such draconian union recognition laws but this Tory government dared to go beyond the remit of any other employer by setting a three month deadline for the abolition of the Check Off. PCS members would have lost their subscriptions that were deducted from their wage packets, with our membership vanishing in a short space of time. But as PCS Group Organiser for the Department of Works and Pensions which is the largest government department and the backbone of our Trade Union, Fran Heathcote led a heroic campaign for transferring PCS membership subscriptions to the Direct Debit by well over 90%! Other government departments followed suit.
Without Fran’s achievement, I would never have been inspired to achieve a 93% transfer rate for all PCS members in the MoJ Associated Offices Branch of which I am Organiser! It reveals that Fran did more to fight against union busting than all leaders of other Trade Unions in Britain of the 21st Century! Yet, we took legal action against the Department of work of Pensions for daring to abolish the Check Off and won £3 million compensation. We are taking legal action against other government departments of which set a precedent against any legislation for applying the abolition of the check off for other Trade Unions!
Paul O’Connor is, also, formidable. He prevented any government from sacking tens of thousands of Civil Servants on the cheap. Since 2016, the government attempted to cut our Civil Service Compensation Scheme by a third without consultation. Paul O’Connor led a long legal battle by PCS of which the government, eventually, lost. The government tried to cut the Civil Service Compensation Scheme, again, but strategic and targeted action forced the government to abandon this policy in the life of this parliament.
Also, Paul has accomplished great achievements through the National Disputes Committee by helping all PCS Representatives and members to break the 50% threshold in the Strike ballot with an average 88% “Yes” vote, securing the largest mandate for strike action, both targeted and national. Through these tactics, Fran and Paul broke the pay freeze of the last ten years from less than 2% to the minimum earnings of over 5%. The government retreated from implementing 91,000 job cuts. Also, £1500 compensation was made to most employees for last year’s cost of living crisis through tough negotiations with the Cabinet Office. Fran and Paul, also, ensured successful action for people in the private and commercial sector with the recent victory for the ISS security officers who had a pay increase of 8% after forty days of action.
The other great success has been the High Court of Appeal victory for PCS members in the Home Office of which prevented the government from deporting the refugees to Rwanda. Again, Paul O’Connor led this court victory. With such great leadership, PCS can defeat racist policies and ensure the safety of refugees who could have been deported to a country that is guilty of genocide. But this Tory government argues that it is a safe country to live in. If Paul is elected as Assistant General Secretary of PCS, he can lead our strong forthcoming legal court case for the restoration of our pension rights in February. No doubt, Paul will do more to re – build and organise this Trade Union!
Both Fran and Paul have conducted a campaign of strategic action that has achieved results for our PCS members. The national dispute has, only, been paused but they are prepared to resist this Tory government in its last year in the life of this parliament before the general election.
I am, also, grateful to Fran and Paul for supporting me in the MoJ Associated Offices Branch that delivered three days of national action and targeted action in Belfast. Currently, we are contesting the ministerial announcement of forcing home workers to spend at least 60% of their time working in the office that could impact on carers and disabled employees.
We need Fran and Paul as our leaders of PCS with a future Labour government to repeal the Minimum Services Level Act that is attempting to cut our right to strike by forcing at least 40% of our members into work. I do not feel confident that our opponents can reflect these achievements. Please vote for Fran Heathcote as General Secretary and Paul O’Connor as Assistant General Secretary of PCS!
- Austin Harney, Hertsmere CLP, MoJ Group Executive Committee and PCS National Executive Committee.
- The ballots for Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union General Secretary and Assistant General Secretary close at noon on December 14th.
- Fran Heathcote is PCS President and Organiser of PCS Left Unity. You can find out more about her campaign for PCS General Secretary on Twitter here.
- Paul O’Connor is a Senior National Officer for the PCS and serves as Secretary to the union’s National Disputes Committee. Follow his campaign for Assistant General Secretary on Twitter here.
- You can follow the PCS on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
