The purpose of this article is to inform members that from Thursday 27^th April 2017 onwards you should receive your DWP Group Executive Committee Election ballot paper.

The DWP Group Executive is an important body within PCS negotiating and campaigning on items such as:

1. Departmental Pay
2. Conditions of Service, Annual Leave, etc
3. Health and Safety matters such as risk assessments across the Department.

The Branch Executive Committee and the Annual General Meetings support the following list of candidates:

Group President	Fran Heathcote
Vice President (4):	Martin Cavanagh
	Annette Rochester
	Katrine Williams
	Ian Wilkinson
Asst Secretaries (7):	David Burke
	Angela Grant
	Sam Hall
	Mark Page
	Ian Pope
	Dave Semple
	Steve Swainston
Organiser:	Marie McDonagh
Treasurer:	Bashir Chilwan
Journal Editor:	Rachel Watts

Committee (17):	Louise Evans	Brian Nairn
	Janice Godrich	Dave Owens
	Rachel Heemskerk	Carol Revell
	Baljit Johal	Sian Ruddick
	Harminder Lothian	Sarah Spencer
	Kevin McCafferty	Carrie-Anne Watkins
	Grant McClure	Steve West
	John McInally	Kate Whiting
	James Meller

The above candidates have:

• Mounted a huge campaign over low pay in DWP in which thousands of members got involved, forcing DWP to go to the Treasury and get agreement to break the 1% pay cap, one of only two departments to be successful in getting agreement for pay flexibility.

• Defended terms & conditions for all DWP staff, preventing the worst elements of Cabinet Office policies from being introduced in DWP

• Continued to prevent compulsory redundancies within DWP and secured permanent jobs for FTA staff, for example ensuring that all Universal credit FTAs were made permanent.

The candidates above will continue to work with you to negotiate and campaign for more staff and job security for us all.

They will fight for a decent pay rise for all whilst protecting your working conditions.

They will continue to campaign for the best terms and conditions for all staff and for more improvements to attendance management.

They will continue to fight to stop office closures and oppose any privatisation of our work.

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact your Branch office.

 

Coming soon the PCS NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ELECTIONS 2017

 

If your ballot paper goes to your home address please take this document home with you!

The purpose of this article is to advise members that the ballot papers for the PCS National Elections should be issued circa 20^th April 2017, which means that very shortly you will be afforded the opportunity to elect the people who will represent PCS at the highest level within the union.

The National body deals with issues such as:

• National Pay Bargaining (campaigning for the restoration)
• The Civil Service Pensions Scheme
• The Cuts in Civil Service Jobs

As you can see from the above it is vitally important that the people we elect are prepared to advance members’ interests.

The Branch recommends (as agreed at the Annual General Meeting) that you participate in the elections and furthermore that you vote for the following candidates:

 

President:		Janice Godrich
Deputy/Vice Presidents (4):		Paula Brown	Zita Holbourne
		Fran Heathcote	Kevin McHugh
National Executive Committee:
(General Constituency – 30)	Ian Albert		Sam Hall		Chris Morrison
	Mark Baker		Austin Harvey		Marianne Owens
	Clive Bryant		John Jamieson		Clara Paillard
	Martin Cavanagh		Mark Leopard		Ian Pope
	Harvey Crane		Neil License		Alison Roder
	Alan Dennis		Marion Lloyd		Candy Udwin
	Lawrence Dunne		Dominic McFadden		Karen Watts
	Mary Ferguson		John McInally		Hector Wesley
	Angela Grant		John Maguire		Katrine Williams
	Jackie Green		Lorna Merry		Paul Williams

 

Under the leadership of the above candidates PCS has continued to grow in strength and reputation as a fighting, campaigning, and democratic union. 

The recommended list below, whilst on the NEC has: –

• Prevented thousands of compulsory redundancies ;
• Forced a review of the hated performance management system;
• Protected 300 jobs in BIS, stopped privatisation of Land Registry – twice, and won major concessions through determined campaigning in DWP, HMRC and other areas;
• Defeated the vindictive attempt to smash our union through withdrawal of check-off and ensured the union’s financial stability.
• worked with other unions, campaign groups and the PCS Parliamentary Group to defend our welfare state, campaign for tax justice and many other issues.

The candidates are committed to promoting and alternative to Austerity and will continue to work with other unions, campaign groups and politicians who support our Alternative and step up the fight to build widest anti-austerity alliance in the trade union movement and wider society.

Their priorities continue to be to build maximum unity in action both within and across the union to defend jobs, conditions and services; continue to demand coordinated action across the public sector to defeat the pay freeze alongside campaigns at departmental levels; promote equality, oppose discrimination; defend members in the Commercial Sector; defend union democracy and improve services to branches and reps and build union strength in our workplaces.

If you want a strong union, please vote for the candidates above.  

If your ballot paper goes to your home address, please take this document home with you.

If you require any further details please do not hesitate to contact Branch Office.