11.05.2011

PCS conference: Don't rush, make sure we can win

Dave Vincent calls for the ballot to be held later

The Public and Commercial Services union is left-led and it is not affiliated to the Labour Party - both factors explain why it is often in the forefront of fighting government attacks. PCS is also an organising and campaigning union rather than a traditional ‘servicing’ union.

As delegates gather for our annual conference, we must make sure the decisions we take match up to the union’s potential. But, before I discuss the key question of action against the cuts, let me deal with the national executive elections, whose results have now been announced.

As usual, there was a three-way fight between the organised factions (aside from a handful of non-faction independents like me). The left has controlled the NEC for some years now, thanks to an electoral pact between Left Unity (dominated by the Socialist Party, with comrades from other left groups, as well as independent socialists, on board) and the PCS Democrats, the far smaller faction, but generously given more places on the electoral slate. The pact goes under the name of Democracy Alliance. Then we have ‘4themembers’ - the self-styled ‘moderates’ of the right wing. Finally there is the breakaway faction from Left Unity called Independent Left.

Once again the DA pact has won a clear victory - 28 out of 30 places on the executive. 4tm now has only two (compared to four last year), although its losers were reasonably close runners-up. The Independent Left occupies its usual third place, with no NEC places.

On a very slightly increased turnout (10.9%, compared to 10.8% in 2010) DA candidates pulled in an average of 11,000 votes, whereas both 4tm and IL candidates were down by about 1,000 (the 4tm average vote was 8,000 and IL’s 5,000). This means that the voting PCS membership continues to prefer the current cautious left leadership to its rightwing challengers, but favours the right over the Independent Left, which continues to make no headway amongst the one in 10 PCS members who can be bothered to vote.

The DA candidates usually secure in excess of 130 branch nominations, while 4tm typically gets about 15 and the IL 20. How on earth does the DA, with the support of 130 branches, only just beat 4tm with its 15? The answer lies in the fact that branch nominations are agreed by the activists who turn up at union meetings, not the membership as a whole.

Whilst individual socialist candidates generally declare their political affiliations in their election statements, when it comes to election literature issued in the name of the Democracy Alliance there is no mention of either Left Unity or the PCS Democrats, let alone their electoral pact. PCS members just see ‘Vote Democracy Alliance’ and are told that means backing the current NEC, which is resisting government attacks.

The fact that 90% of members do not vote suggests the SP-dominated leadership has yet to win over the bulk of ordinary members - hence its caution when it comes to militant action despite years of controlling the NEC and the appointment of an army of SP-sympathising full-time officials pushing the line amongst our activists.

Strike ballot

The big question at our May 18-20 national conference will be industrial action in defence of jobs and conditions. Over what precise question should it be called and when? How can the largely apathetic membership be mobilised by the core of excellent activists?

General secretary Mark Serwotka has already told the media that PCS will be balloting for a strike the week after conference, with the aim of united action alongside other unions - the National Union of Teachers, Association of Teachers and Lecturers and University and College Union - to take place on or around June 30. He has presumed conference will endorse the NEC’s emergency motion calling for this. So we could see 295,000 NUT, 270,000 PCS, 119,000 UCU and 120,500 ATL members out together. But, then again, we might not.

I think the NEC’s intended strategy is a high-risk gamble not worth taking and my branch has put an alternative emergency motion to conference. There may well be others offering other strategies, which we will not see until we get to conference.

I will explain my concerns and alternative here.

The NEC wants united action with some teaching unions for June 30. But where is the NASUWT? We have sought unity with the NUT before (over pay) and seen it win the ballot, only to call off the proposed action because the majority was too slim. PCS then decided to follow suit. Rushing things to make the end of June means other unions cannot come on board because of the timetable for ballots laid down in the anti-union laws. It also means the leadership will not have consulted activists, branches or members on their current mood.

Because PCS will be running an industrial action ballot rather than a consultation exercise the employer will not allow workplace meetings. This means we will be forced to hold meetings in car parks in members’ own time and/or leaflet members going into work.

Where are Unison and Unite? PCS signed a much-hyped ‘joint working agreement’ with Unison. Where’s the ‘joint’ and where’s the ‘working’? All I know that Unison has done is pay for billboard adverts urging people to “Vote for the party which supports public services” on May 5 (Which one is that then?). I have seen no Unison appeal for united public sector action, let alone a general strike.

But going for June 30 lets the big two, along with other unions, off the hook.

My alternative strategy to be debated at conference (if I am not stitched up by the standing orders committee) is to call for the ballot later in the year to give us more time to get other unions on board, which will, in turn, get more PCS members on board. There should be a pre-ballot consultation exercise so we can get members together collectively and win them to support action. We must also ensure that membership records are correct, given the recent successful legal challenges, resulting in the banning of action over minor discrepancies. We also need a recruitment campaign amongst the large minority of non-members.

I agree with the Independent Left that members are getting fed up of the ‘one day here, one day there’ action that seems to get nowhere. PCS national ballots seem to result in fewer members voting, the margin of support narrowing, fewer pickets turning out and more members strike-breaking. The issue is not the need to fight the cuts - the issue is the need to win the ballot overwhelmingly. We have to win our members over. Work-to-rule action is usually a flop - we have be confident that the members will maintain solidarity.

The NEC talks about the need to maintain the momentum of the TUC’s March 26 anti-cuts demonstration (so should the other unions). Oddly enough, PCS called for the demo to be held in November 2010 rather than leaving it until March 2011. But that very delay gave activists more time to make it the success it was. We would not have been able to mobilise 500,000 back in November and the same consideration applies now to industrial action.

On March 26 Mark Serwotka told the Hyde Park rally: “Imagine what it would be like if we didn’t only march together; we took strike action together across all of our public services.” Well, Mark, my suggested strategy gives the best chance of that happening, so why are you rushing to meet a deadline that suits the education unions, but not the PCS or others? My strategy (near identical to that of the NEC, but calling for the ballot to be held later) gives us a better chance of getting more unions on board, more PCS members voting for action, with a greater likelihood of winning the ballot overwhelmingly and not by a narrow margin, and more non-members joining. I can afford to be proved wrong on this. The NEC cannot.

We have not even heard if Unite general secretary Len McCluskey, a guest speaker at our conference, will pledge any concrete support. He is timed to address us on Friday after we have debated the strategy (on Wednesday). It would be useful for delegates to hear what he promises (if anything) before we debate our industrial action strategy, but it seems we are to be denied this opportunity. What is going on here?

If we agree to ballot and then hear Unite has no intention of calling action this year, that will hardly boost morale, will it? If he is aiming for action later, our members will ask why we are being called out now (and then again later?). Our members are low-paid, those on higher salaries are on a pay freeze and inflation is taking off.

I am asking the questions members have been asking me, but I have been given no answers, apart from ‘We have to fight the cuts’. My best activists are telling me June is too soon - where are the other, bigger unions?