DSG 20 March action briefing 4 – They won’t talk, so we must act

At the recent round of PCS annual general meetings in the defence sector, GEC speakers asked a specific question to the members who attended – ‘Do you want an Unfair Deal in Defence’? Unsurprisingly, not a single member said they wanted an unfair deal.

 

The government are now threatening our terms and conditions so in a similar vein, which of the following of your terms and conditions could you afford to lose - 

 

• Paid sick leave

 

• Flexible working hours

 

• Paid annual leave

 

• Mobility protection

 

If the answer is none of the above, it is time to take action to defend our terms and conditions.

 

Why we still need a Fair Deal in Defence

 

For many months now, our union has been involved in negotiations to achieve a settlement around the objectives of our Fair Deal in Defence campaign. Members will have seen the briefing on 11 March that we had suspended our Defence Sector group specific industrial action timetable to allow further talks.

 

Unfortunately on 14 March, PUS, John Thompson made a MoD wide announcement about the changes the department proposes to make in relation to our terms and conditions.

 

Whilst this announcement was not entirely unexpected in the lead up to national strike action on 20 March, the content of the announcement is both unwelcome and somewhat  different to the informal engagement on the Cabinet Office proposals that had been taking place over several months. The proposals relating to a 26-week ban on flexi for new starters and the changes to sick leave entitlements building up over 5 years have not been previously discussed.

 

Please read carefully

 

Our union would encourage every member to read PUS’s announcement very carefully. Although the proposed changes are at present both limited and for new starters only, the department are strongly minded to introduce all the proposed Cabinet Office changes for both new starters and staff on promotion. This again is a new proposal and is strange given the department’s own analysis suggests that it would be both more expensive and counterproductive to do so.

 

If this happens, it will be a direct attack on career progression within the Ministry of Defence. Will you still apply for promotion if you are expected to work longer hours, get less leave and have a worse sickness absence provision? The answer is likely to be no; which will once more leave the department with massive skills shortages and huge succession planning issues.

 

Please note that formal consultation with our union by the Ministry of Defence has not yet started on any of these proposals.

 

However we expect this consultation shortly and we expect to see further attacks to follow, as the MoD fully embraces the civil service reform agenda. Our union will be opposing these changes; but our opposition would be strengthened by an overwhelming response to the action on 20 March. 

 

Industrial Action called

 

As you will be aware our union is starting a programme of industrial action in order to force the government to back off from further attacks to our pay, pensions, jobs and terms and conditions. The action will start with a day of strikes across the civil service to coincide with the Budget Day on 20 March.

 

Members are rightly angry at this aggressive move by the government and unwillingness from Ministers to even talk over slashing of our terms. Hard won terms that if lost will see a major detriment to our living standards, our jobs, working conditions and pensions. Furthermore those who join the civil service in the future, or expect to get promoted during their career, will have radically reduced terms and expectations. Surely this is not what we want to hand over to the next generation?

 

Follow the democratic decision

 

We need to show the Ministry of Defence that we will not stand for this and they need to work with our union in order to defend the conditions of members. 

 

Defence Sector group members have now voted to take strike action and action short of strike in both the national ballot and the Fair Deal ballot in order to force our employer to negotiate a fair settlement. This is the democratic decision by members and all members should now abide by this decision and get behind the action.

 

Conclusion

 

Announcing the action, PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said, “This is not a one-day protest, this is the start of a rolling programme of walkouts and disruptive action to put pressure on a government that is refusing to talk to us."

 

Whilst we are getting some movement on our Fair Deal campaign with senior MoD management, nationally our union has asked for talks on pay, pensions, jobs and terms and conditions, but ministers are imposing cuts and refusing to negotiate.

 

Last Wednesday (13 March), Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister behind the destructive plan for civil service reform couldn’t face PCS activists leafleting in central London and sneaked out the back of his blacked out Jaguar into a back entrance in Whitehall.

 

Wednesday 20 March, Budget Day 2013, is our chance to send a message to the government and employers that we don’t accept the cuts and we want real negotiations and agreements to protect our rights.

 

ALL OUT ON 20 MARCH - SUPPORT THE ACTION

 

Bob Rollings

Defence Sector group secretary