The purpose of this post is to inform members that from Thursday 23rd April 2009 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:
- Departmental Pay
- Conditions of Service, Annual Leave, etc
- Health and Safety matters such as screens, risk assessments across the Department.
The Branch Executive Committee and the Annual General Meeting support the following list of candidates:
Vice Presidents (5): Alan Brown, Martin Cavanagh, John McInally, Laura Martin, Katrine Williams
Assistant Secretaries (7): Paul Barton, David Burke, Christine Cuthbert, Sam Hall, Tom Penn, Dave Richards, Rob Williams
Organiser: Fran Heathcote
Treasurer: Bashir Chilwan
Group Journal Editor: Alan Smith
Committee (21): Dave Alston, Ian Pope, Alison Carass, Carol Revell, Jason Ferraby, Sarah Robinson, Helen Flanagan, Sian Ruddick, Jimmy Gill, Lesley Salt, Janice Godrich, Jagdeep Sandhu, Sharon Green, Nigel Sheahan, Gavin Hartley, Derek Thomson, Martin Jones, Yvonne Washbourne, Adam Khalif, Steve West, Dave Owens
The above candidates, if elected, will campaign for:
Pay
A return to national pay bargaining, a minimum wage in line with the European Decency Threshold and all staff to reach their maximum within 5 years. Opposition to Performance Pay. All pay awards must be equality proofed to ensure that they are not discriminatory.
Health & Safety
Full support for members’ Health and Safety rights of work. The above candidates support the Branches in ensuring safety is a key issue- issues such as windows falling out at Preston, ensuring the employer conducts proper Risk Assessments across a range of working environment issues and procedures, lighting (the ability of members to have some control over their environment) and for proper local consultation our Health and Safety issues.
Conditions of Service
The harmonisation of pay, grading and all conditions of service for all DWP members on the basis of the best terms from each Agency. For improved policies on Equal Opportunities and Domestic Violence, improved procedures on promotion vacancy filling and transfers and improvements to sick absence procedures.
Although there is a long way still to go these candidates have already succeeded in preventing the Department’s sick absence procedures from becoming even worse and are seeking to curtail the procedure of semi automatic warnings after only 8 days absence. A degree of common sense is now expected. Successfully achieved the abolition of the despised PDS Appraisal system.
Staffing
Against casualisation and for more permanent staff.
Industrial Relations
For improved industrial relations, adequate time off for PCS representatives and an insistence that PCS must remain an independent Trade Union with the explicit right to actively campaign against and fully oppose any of the employer’s proposals. In favour of fully open negotiations.
Privatisation
A high profile campaign to oppose any further privatisation of work and for the return of work already privatised back into the public sector.
Wider Issues
For a better and fairer benefits system which alleviates rather than perpetuating poverty.
We would encourage members to vote in the forthcoming elections and we hope that you will consider voting for the above candidates.
