Myth Busters

Dear Colleagues,

It has come to the Branch Executive Committees’ attention that there have been a few myths doing the rounds regarding Industrial Action, so we thought that it was best to bust some of those myths.

The myths weren’t new myths in fact they were last peddled in the 1980’s when we were involved at that stage in Action to improve Pay and defend Conditions of Service. It is not clear where the myths come from however there are schools of thought that they emanate from those opposed to the Union and from those members who have let themselves and their colleagues down by not supporting Campaigning Action. As a means to try and live with their consciences due to their behaviour, they try and come out with reasons why they let themselves and their colleagues down, so badly.

Myth One:
“The Union Activists get paid when they are on strike”. Nonsense, this is not the case, we lose pay in the same way that all the members do who take action.

Myth Two:
“When the Union Activists picket the Overtime they are paid Overtime rates”. Rhubarb! We are neither paid Overtime nor any time for picketing the overtime. We are not paid.

Myth Three:
“The Union Activists know when strikes are going to be called and book leave”. Poppycock!! This is totally untrue. Those on pre-booked week (s) leave (provided that they are in the area) or who aren’t contracted to work on the day of a strike often picket anyway, effectively losing the benefits of the day off.

Why it is important not to be deflected by myths
For reasons including potentially those above there may be those who want to undermine the PCS Campaign. Only they truly know their motives. But remember that we are facing pay cuts in real terms over a three year period, in the region of 10 %. So the stakes are high.

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

Workers Memorial Day

Workers Memorial Day is an international event that takes place on the 28th of April every year. In various towns and cities over the UK (and abroad) Trade Unionists come together to "remember the dead and fight for the living".

The main thrust is to remember those unfortunate enough to have lost their lives in the course of their work, usually as an accident. It is also of course to focus on the fact that workplaces with active and organised Trade Union's in place are statistically far safer than those with out - This is known as "The Union Effect".

The event went well with a good turn out. Speakers from the Fire Brigade Union, local TU Education Unit, MP's and the Mayor spoke. This was underpinned by a short memorial service, some readings and a folk singer.

The service concluded with a release of balloons and a march to the memorial plaque to lay a reeth.

Photos of the event can be found below.

Massive Support for DWP Strike

The DWP Group have posted the following information on the PCS site:

Nearly 400,000 other Civil Servants, Teachers, University and College lecturers and local government workers joined PCS members in the DWP all across the country to strike together on 24th April to demand fair pay.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT
DWP union members overwhelmingly continued to back the campaign for better pay and supported the strike.

In London 10,000 people joined a march and over 3,000 crammed into Westminster Hall to hear speakers from PCS and the teachers unions. Brendon Barber, TUC General secretary gave his backing and warned the government to stop attacking public service workers.

Over 300 rallies were organised around the country involving 3,000 people in Birmingham, 2,000 in Newcastle, 400 in Manchester, 500 in Leeds, 800 in Sheffield, 300 in Cardiff, 5000 in Nottingham and 1,000 in Liverpool.

UNITY IS STRENGTH
Everywhere ordinary union members stressed that all they want is fair pay and to be valued at work. Everywhere ordinary union members said how good it made them feel to see so many other workers from different unions all taking a stand together and all sending to same message to the government. Newspaper, radio and television coverage was better than ever and gave us a chance to Have our say.

OVERTIME BAN KEEPS UP THE PRESSURE
We now need to keep up the pressure on management to make sure that the treasury are forced to agree to real improvements in our pay so make sure you support the overtime ban from now until 8th May.

NOW WE WANT MORE TALKS
Following a meeting with PCS the DWP management have gone back to the treasury to ask for authority to improve the imposed pay offer.

The imposed 3 year pay offer included a review clause at the insistence of PCS to ensure that the amount would be reviewed if any "significant external factors" were likely to have an effect on our pay.

With inflation at 3.8% and the 10p tax cut management agreed to go back to the treasury.

Our union is now writing to management calling for another urgent meeting to discuss the response from treasury. We want an improved offer now.

FIND OUT WHAT IS HAPPENING ON PAY EVERY FRIDAY
A bulletin giving up to date information about the pay campaign will be on the PCS website every Friday. Your reps will be asked to give out paper versions of this circular. Keep right up to date with all of the latest pay campaign news by clicking on the PCS HQ site every Friday

Industrial Action - 24th April 2006

Click on the images below to open in a new window. The information on them is background as to why PCS have called further industrial action.

Attendance Management

The PCS DWP North West Region have set up a brief attendance management survey (online poll) on their web site.

The website can be found here - the survey is linked off the main page.

Please take two minutes to fill it in, it can't do any harm!

Blackpool Gazette Article

Just a link to the Blackpool Gazette Article about the Lytham site closure. The story can be found here.

Disability and the DWP

The PCS DWP North West Regional Committee have provided the following information:

It appears that the DWP, the Department responsible for Disability and Carers is refusing to accept that any of its staff are covered by the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) until they are challenged at employment tribunal. In recent cases at this level, the department is arguing that staff do not have disabilities which are covered by the DDA, even where the disability is obvious to the individual and sometimes to others around them.

The DDA Definition
The DDA defines a disability as “a physical or mental impairment” which “has affected or will affect” your “day to day activities” for 12 months. “Day to day activities” are further defined in the Act, but the affects of the condition should not just be work related. Cancer, HIV infection and multiple sclerosis are covered automatically.

Reasonable Adjustments
If you are covered by the DDA, your employer has a legal responsibility not to discriminate against you and to make “reasonable adjustments” for you. These can be physical adjustments such as furniture or equipment, but can also be adjustments to the way management implement the attendance management procedures.

The Department argues that it makes reasonable adjustments even if you have an underlying health problem. While this is helpful for some members, it can encourage a culture in which members do not disclose their disability.

Underlying health conditions
If you have a condition which does not appear to be covered by the DDA, management still have a duty of care towards you and you can still argue that the condition should be taken in to account for attendance management purposes.

Disclosing Disability
PCS understands that there can be sensitivities around disclosing some disabilities to your employer, particularly where the disability is “hidden” and where it does not affect your work. However, in the present attendance management climate, our advice has to be that it is best to tell management about any disabilities you have and get a statement from management to say whether they accept you are covered by the DDA. For many members this is only a precautionary measure but can avoid arguments if you are unlucky enough to have to take sick leave related to your disability.

A number of factors can assist in arguing that you are covered by the DDA such as the position of a “green card” under the old disability registration scheme, the fact that you get DLA or IIDB or the fact that a previous employer has accepted you are covered by the DDA. However, none of these will be accepted on their own and you should always get advice from a PCS rep to help you argue your case with management if necessary.

DWP Group Conference 2008

The Group Conference Agenda is available on the PCS HQ Web site now as a word document.

The document can be found here.

Last Day for Lytham...

The following article appeared on the Blackpool Citizen newspaper website on Sunday:

Last day for Lytham civil servants
By Tyrone Marshall

The last civil servants based at Moorland Road in Lytham will leave the site for the final time tomorrow.

More than 2,500 people used to work for the Department for Work and Pensions, at the site. The local Public and Commercial Services Union fear more job cuts are to follow.

Branch secretary Duncan Griffiths said: "Over 1500 jobs have been cut and the remaining members want an end to all the job cuts, uncertainty and additional workloads that they inherit. Instead they have been threatened by the prospect of further drastic levels of job cuts."

"The Lytham site will not have any DWP staff based there after April 21 and the Norcross site is around a third empty."

Lighting at Warbreck

The Latest Developments.

Dear Colleagues,

Over the years we have witnessed problems with lighting in the Office at Warbreck. The employer in meetings indicates that they have received advice from their “experts” (Land Securities Trillium) who have assured them that they fully comply with all legislation and associated expert guidance.

At the Warbreck Safety Committee on 15th April 2008 the employer had only just concluded repeating the above points, followed by PCS highlighting where in the relevant guidance the lighting does not comply, when LST “pulled the rug” from underneath the employer by stating that they do not comply with the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, LG7 Guidance.

The CIBSE LG7 Guidance sets out some parameters on lighting including:

a) uniformity of lighting. The CIBSE Guidance states the following about uniformity of lighting:

”The other misconception is that office lighting is all about creating a uniform lighting level across the whole space. What is needed is uniform lighting across each task area, which normally consists of relatively small areas on each desk. The lighting in the wider office space can, and indeed should, vary somewhat to create visual interest”. This means that you do not have uniformity of lighting across the room, but across a small area of the desk.

b) Individual control of lighting. The CIBSE Guidance states the following about individual control of lighting:

“This task lighting may be desk-, furniture- or partition-mounted. Local task lighting can present
problems in terms of electrical supply, safety and positioning but does allow for local switching or dimming and perhaps adjustment of light direction. This gives users greater control over their environment, which usually leads to increased user satisfaction. It is also possible in some spaces to provide localized lighting just over or around clusters of desks.”

“The use of area or individual dimming of the luminaires should be considered. This will allow users to reduce the lighting level if they prefer to do so”.

“Localised lighting is where one or more luminaires are positioned in the vicinity of the task area. This might be by luminaires in, or suspended from, the ceiling above desks, or by freestanding lighting that may be a direct/indirect luminaire placed by a desk or an indirect light placed within a cluster of desks”

“Localised lighting is generally used to provide all the required task lighting on the desk, although it is possible to use local luminaires to provide the top-up lighting from a lower ambient level up to the selected task illuminance”.

“It is important that the luminaire be provided with a local switch or ideally a dimmer control”.

“The distance on plan from any local switch to the luminaire it controls should be not more than eight metres”. Note that DWP Estates say that they work to not more than six metres.

“A way of meeting the requirement would be the provision of local switches in easily accessible positions within each working area or at boundaries between working areas and general circulation routes”.

“Even with uniform grids of luminaires across a space, with additional investment in individual dimming luminaires it is possible to have higher levels over desk locations and lower levels between.”

“Non-uniform layouts of luminaires can provide more visual interest in the space and concentrate lighting just where it is most needed”.

“Whatever type of lighting controls are installed, manual or automatic, the control zones within the overall space should be localised to groups of workstations. The individual zones should have switches close to the user to allow easy and convenient control of the lights in a local zone”.

“Other companies have a need for rapidly changing work teams or even areas for hot-desking, where staff do not have a permanent desk but claim a desk only when in the office. Here reduced background lighting with re-locatable task lighting may be more effective. Also, local control of lighting is likely to be more important in such areas”

These are good reasons why there needs to be control of the lighting.

c) The lighting level. The CIBSE Guidance states the following about the lighting level:

“The recommended design maintained illuminance over the task area in any room where office work is carried out is generally in the range 300 to 500 lux. This range allows some scope for tailoring for the exact type of work being carried out in the space”.
”The minimum level set by the Health and Safety Executive for any permanently occupied area is 200 lux”.

“With indirect lighting, direct lighting or direct/indirect lighting, it is possible either to provide all the required illumination or to provide just background lighting of, say, 200 lux, supplemented with good task lighting”.

Detriments to Health and Reasonable Adjustments
Following continuing questions by PCS the employer has acknowledged that there are over 50 cases of people who have medical problems created or exacerbated by the downgrading of the lighting. We believe that this number represents the tip of the iceberg.

The employer has also indicated that Atos (a company appointed by the DWP to provide specific medical advice) “often recommended individual lighting when they return their OHS reports.” The employer has added “but this is not something that is currently possible at Warbreck”. We agree with the medical advice that individual control of lighting is the best way to resolve the issues, but do not agree with the employer’s statement that this is not currently possible at Warbreck. The lighting could be restored to its previous levels of control for the individual.

We have asked that the employer now re-assess the 50 plus cases that they are aware of in terms of rectifying any detriments that the members may have been subjected to as a result of the erroneous downgrading of the lighting.

We will keep members informed of any developments.

Yours sincerely

Duncan Griffiths,Branch Secretary.

Privatisation – Why it doesn’t work

The following information has been passed to us for circulation by the DWP Group Executive:

New Guidance Agreed
Following months of detailed talks with the Cabinet Office, PCS has approved new guidance on managing outsourcing and privatisation in the civil service. Details of this new guidance has been issued to branches by the national union in circular BB/30/08.

This Guidance addresses the issue of compulsory redundancy immediately following transfer to the private sector, with management now having to take steps to avoid transferring staff only for them to be made redundant. In addition, in-house bids should now be considered and the department should explain to the unions its reasons for not allowing them when they are requested.

Increased Privatisation Calls
However, there are still many groups arguing that more and more DWP work should be opened up to privatisation.

These people wish to see the DWP reduced to an organisation which merely contracts out work. They may hide behind a variety of reasons for further privatisation: enabling more people to move into work, bringing about professional standards, modernising the delivery of services, etc. However their real reason is to make money!

Pathways to Privatisation
Jobcentre Plus is the area where the government is being lobbied hardest to increase the use of the private sector. The main lobbyists are private companies seeking to make millions of pounds of profit from providing Jobcentre Plus services.

Already a significant amount of DWP work is outsourced. The DWP 3 Year Business Plan shows that a staggering £2.67 billion is now spent each year on contracting work out to private and voluntary organisations as well as consultants. If unchallenged this trend is likely to continue.

A recent report, commissioned by the DWP, looking at the privatisation of the welfare state in America, highlighted the dangers attached to privatisation. “There are risks attached to the significant involvement of for-profit organisations. They are likely to follow profit maximisation strategies shaped by contract incentives and this may not necessarily deliver what is best for clients…..future capacity may be at risk when market conditions change and larger for-profits remove their capital to seek greater profits elsewhere.”

In other words private companies will be tempted to cherry-pick the easier cases when paid by results and will move away altogether if unemployment increases. Given this information, PCS has strongly condemned the decision to hand over 60% of the new Pathways to Work programme to private profit-making companies.

It has been revealed that the new Pathways to Work programme will reward private companies handsomely for their efforts. According to some reports, the DWP could be paying private contractors tens of thousands of pounds for finding an unemployed person a job that lasts for 18 months. This is money that should be invested into Jobcentre Plus to enable our members to improve and develop their already excellent record of getting the unemployed into work. Only this week the government proudly announced that unemployment had fallen to a 30 year low. This is clear evidence that Jobcentre Plus is delivering results and there is no sensible reason for changing a system that is working so well.

Deal or No Deal
The recently announced Flexible New Deal (where private companies provide employment services for those who have been unemployed for over 12 months) will see the privatisation bill to DWP increase dramatically. The companies who win the bids could be netting millions of pounds a year.

The DWP has so far refused to rule out transferring Jobcentre Plus staff to the private sector through the Flexible New Deal. They have asked bidders to include the cost of transferring staff under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) Regulations, though also suggested that staff may be redeployed away from privatisation.

PCS is completely opposed to a single member of staff being transferred to the private or voluntary sector as part of the Flexible New Deal. PCS has called for the Department to reassure its staff that no one will be transferred out of the civil service as a result of the Flexible New Deal. In addition we will press the case for In House bids to be run for every contract.

Future Employment Doubts
PCS is concerned that members’ future employment may be at risk if they have to transfer to private or voluntary organisations. Recent examples of DWP privatisations has shown that private companies are quite prepared to make staff who transfer to them compulsorily redundant, sometimes within weeks of the transfer.

The privatisation of File Storage to Capita, Printing to Xerox and Office Services to Haden have all resulted in members being made compulsorily redundant soon after the privatisation. The new agreement with the Cabinet Office should help to make this harder in future but our experience has shown that privatisation does pose a real risk to members’ jobs.

Private Waste, Public Loss
The DWP 3 Year Business Plan proudly announces that “our estate, telephony and information technology infrastructure have all been outsourced through a series of ground-breaking contracts with our private-sector partners.” One of these, the DWP computer contract (TREDSS) has brought with it numerous problems.
Under this contract the DWP can pay more money to repair a computer than it would actually cost to buy a replacement from a High Street store. Simple tasks, like moving a computer from one desk to another, which was previously carried out by DWP staff, now involves paying a private company to do it.

The TREDSS contract will also mean that even access to the office communications rooms will have to be paid for, despite the fact that a CSO can currently access it for no cost.

Further evidence of the failure to drive out savings via IT privatisations comes in the shape of equipment to aid users with disabilities in accessing their computer. Mice and other such equipment are now routinely hired in at a cost that exceeds their actual outright buying cost. While the CAMS system, being developed for the introduction of ESA, fails to provide the essential adjustments that many disabled staff will need to be able to use the new system. It is a sad irony that the IT system to support paying benefits to sick and disabled people, fails to provide the reasonable adjustments for the department’s own disabled staff.

Conclusion
PCS believes that there is a fundamental problem in treating DWP as a business. The DWP is a provider of essential public services and it is a fundamental mistake to pretend that it can operate as a profit making organisation in an artificial market.

PCS believes it’s time for a fundamental rethink of the use of the privatisation in DWP. PCS is pressing the government to deliver properly on their slogan of ‘what’s works is what’s best’. Jobcentre Plus has for many years shown that it works best. DWP should back its staff and end its policy of privatising our work.

Pay Talks Offer No Solution Yet

The Department for Work & Pensions Group have sent us the following information:

Pay Review Triggered
PCS met management on the 15th of April under the terms of the review clause of the three year pay offer. The clause which was written by PCS was included to ensure that the award could be reviewed if any “significant external factors” were likely to have an effect on pay and would allow DWP to return to Treasury to seek authority to improve the offer.

The union used the meeting to set out our thoughts on the contents of management’s bid to Treasury, specifically we pointed to:

• RPI Inflation (as announced yesterday) still being 3.8% compared to 0% increases in DWP with food and fuel costs rocketing when the Treasury were predicting last year that by now it would be below 2.7%
  
• Other public sector deals were clearly breaking the 2% limit preferred by the government. Specifically the NHS with 2.75% (on top of progression costs) in the first year of a three year offer.
  
  
• Treasury guidance on civil service pay awards has increased the amount departments are allowed to spend from 4% to 4.5%. This means that if management had agreed a one year pay offer last year as we argued, we would be in a much better position now.
  
  
• The minimum wage in DWP in 2008 will be £12,850, compared to the national minimum wage which will be £12,514 in 2008 and the new minimum in the recent NHS offer of £14,785.
  
  
• The damning results of the staff survey and feedback of an increased turnover of staff particularly at AO level.
  
  
• Management cannot afford not to reward their most loyal and long serving staff to retain their experience and improve productivity.
  
  
• That low pay and the recent tax changes were forcing ever increasing numbers of members into claiming more benefits.

The union also pointed out that the 3.6% remit agreed by Treasury for DWP included progression and argued that DWP should press Treasury to decouple progression costs from the cost of living award.

Management's responseManagement agreed that under the terms of the review they would now return to Treasury to seek authority to improve the offer. Management were unable to outline what they would be asking Treasury to agree to as they were still formulating their views.

Management agreed to meet again when they have a response from Treasury. They were unable to confirm how much Treasury were likely to agree to or what the timescale would be for Treasury to respond.

Increase the pressure on Treasury nowEven at this late stage management have not offered an acceptable settlement to the pay dispute. Despite the union suggesting positive proposals on the offer and on managing attendance, PDS, flexi and job security, which would help us find a solution no revised offer has been made and no counter proposals put to the union.

It is clear that we need to keep the pressure up on DWP management and now HM Treasury to improve the below inflation offer. PCS has now issued the formal legal notification of the strike to take place on 24 April.

Support the 24 April strike
Over 100,000 PCS members from 10 departments and Agencies including DfT, Home Office and the Coastguards will strike on 24 April alongside Teachers and college lecturers against the government's public sector pay restraint.
Over 300,000 public sector workers will send a loud and clear message to the government that low pay and below inflation rises in the public sector will not be tolerated.

Management will have to come back to the unions following their approach to Treasury, maximise the pressure now to persuade them that we are will not be ignored and they must start talking seriously to us about settling this dispute.

Support the strike on 24 April. Together we will win.

DWP BLACK MEMBERS

The PCS DWP Group Executive Committee have provided the following information:

SEMINAR 2008 - PROUD TO “B” ME

23rd & 24th of June 2008, Wortley Hall, Wortley, Sheffield

Sessions to include:

- My Union and Me
- Know your Rights
- Equality/impact Assessments

Speakers from PCS including DWP Group President Jane Aitchison.

Are you interested in shaping the union within the DWP?
Do you want to have your say?

THEN APPLY TODAY

All black or Asian members of PCS in the DWP will be eligible to apply. For an application form, please ring PCS on 0113 200 5300.

If you want more information please ring :Yvonne Washbourne 0121 766 4396 or Bashir Chilwan 0116 248 1278

PCS North West Young Members

PCS are actively trying to recruit and organise young members in the workplace.

Please see the circular here if you wish to know more about the young members network etc.

100,000 Civil Servants To Strike on 24 April

Over 100,000 Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) working across 10 government departments and agencies will be on strike at the same time as other public sector workers, including teachers and lecturers in a one day strike on 24 April in protest at the government's policy to cap public sector pay to below inflation, which will result in cuts to living standards across the civil service.

The announcement follows today's strongly supported strike by Coastguards over pay levels that fall way behind those paid to other emergency services and the government's policy of capping pay increases to below inflation. Today's industrial action hit emergency and 999 distress calls and led to the closure of nearly half of the UK's 19 rescue co-ordination centres. The remainder operated on a severely reduced service and were staffed by a handful of managers.

In addition to members in the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), a number of departments and agencies, including driving examiners, immigration staff, jobcentre and benefits staff will be on strike over pay on 24 April. All are in dispute over below inflation pay offers with cost of living increases averaging 2% or less with a large number receiving 0%.

They are:

- The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
- The Home Office
- The Department for Transport (DfT)
- The Driving Standards Agency (DSA)
- The Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency (DVLA),
- The Highways Agency,
- The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA)
- The Vehicle Certification Agency.

The Land Registry will also be striking for two hours on 24 April.

Pay in the civil service is among the lowest in the public sector with starting salaries just above the minimum wage and with a quarter of staff earning less than £16,000. With inflation running at over 4% staff are angry at the government imposed pay caps that are resulting in pay freezes and pay cuts in real terms.

Commenting, Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: "The massive show of support for today's coastguard strike illustrates the resolve of dedicated staff in achieving a fair deal on pay that recognises the important role they play and the rising costs of living they face. The government's discredited argument that public sector pay fuels inflation doesn't wash with independent economists and the hundreds of thousands of civil and public servants whose work is often taken for granted, yet touches our everyday lives. The government are alienating its own workforce by driving down the pay of some of the lowest paid in the public sector with a policy of below inflation pay caps and pay freezes. Unless the government changes direction and agrees to seriously tackle low pay, then 24 April will see over 100,000 civil and public servants coming together to demand the fair deal they deserve."

NEC elections 2008

It's time for the National Executive Committee Elections once more. Ballot papers should be arriving with you at anytime, some will have arrived already.

They need to be returned by Tuesday 6th of May - If you don't get a ballot paper in the next week, please contact PCS HQ directly (the Branch unfortunately has no part in the issue of the papers) - Public & Commercial Services Union, 160 Falcon Road, London, SW11 2LN. Tel: 020 7924 2727

The document here has the details of the Branch recommendations for the posts, in short they are people that we think have been doing a good job, or will do a good job based on our knowledge of them within the PCS organisation already.

Welcome....

Welcome to the new Branch Blog.

As a suplement to the information we provide in the Branch Magazine (Hard Copy) and to the numerous circulars we put out via our distribution agents, we will be endeavouring, as time allows, to post some important information on this site.

Hopefully it can be used as a reference point for the members to come back to if there is some information that they saw or had in a paper format that they require.

We will also be posting important information here on a regular basis as members can access it both from home and work.

Enjoy the blog, if you have any comments or wish to see anything included, send us an email...