TORY SHADOW CABINET MEMBER REPRESENTING RUSSIAN OLIGARCH ROMAN ABRAMOVICH PRESS RELEASE — UKRAINE SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN The Ukraine Solidarity Campaign (USC) condemns the revelation that Lord Wolfson KC, a senior Conservative peer and Shadow Attorney General, is now representing sanctioned Russian…

A second new article is on the site. A little reading for the New Year: Our take on the DWP Ballot and GEC Elections: pcsindependentleft.com/2025/12/28/o...

To read our article on Confronting Left Unity’s Fake Optimism, go here: pcsindependentleft.com/2025/12/24/c...

Left Unity wants us to believe the Cabinet Office will abandon 40 years of delegated bargaining just because we’ve made "good arguments." But logic doesn't win disputes—leverage does. Look at the Resident Doctors: they only won pay rises through massive, sustained strikes.

A message has come out that PCS will close for 2025 at end of play today (Tuesday 23 December) and reopen on Monday 5 January. The class struggle will obviously cease between those dates and maybe we can play football with the bosses!

In ‘News from the NEC’, the Left Unity leadership expresses "cautious optimism" about ending delegated pay bargaining. Yet, in the same breath, they admit there is "nothing concrete" at this stage. We need more than vague hope for our national pay demands.

We support the Resident Doctors and the BMA. They are showing us all how a trade union should act.

The moment we secure the YES vote, the focus must shift entirely from organising that to organising the strike. Alongside that we have to approach non-members to join. Union density in DWP, as with nearly everywhere else in the UK civil service, is way too low.

If we deliver the DWP strike vote, we must be prepared to execute strike action with speed and conviction. We cannot afford to fall into the trap of using the threat of action as an excuse to delay actual action. Our leverage is perishable; it is at its maximum the moment the result is declared.

In terms of the ballot, we recognise that the DWP and behind them, the Government—is the only adversary that matters. Failing to secure the required "YES" vote would be a collective defeat, stripping us of our only real source of leverage.

Despite all our criticisms of the current DWP GEC leadership, we will do our upmost to deliver a YES vote in the statutory ballot which starts in the New Year.

In 2016, LU negotiated the DWP employee deal. They claimed that 4 years of above inflation pay rises for those who agreed to sell their weekends and evenings to the employer would address low pay in the department for the most junior grades. It didn't and now many are on the minimum wage.

Read the latest article on the IL website: pcsindependentleft.com/2025/12/10/t...

LU say - sometimes - the real enemy is the employer. But we notice that Labour are getting an easy ride from PCS. That's because LU are cosying up to Labour to get concessions. US unions say, bargain, don't beg. LU are begging because they know we are a minority union and weak.

The Tories under Thatcher/Major, then New Labour, then the Tories again, and now under new ‘New Labour’, have proposed and implemented ‘reforms’ to the Civil Service and the wider public sector, always with the declared aim of making the Civil Service and wider public sector more efficient.

The principle of a 4-day week with no loss-in pay is a fast-growing demand with an increasing number of successful trials taking place across the world. Despite it being an overwhelmingly popular policy, the union has not attempted to negotiate with the DWP on this issue or indeed nationally.

PCS Independent Left will continue to back our trans members and the wider trans community. Solidarity means listening to the voices of oppressed people, not silencing them. It means amplifying their demands, not refusing to print them. It means backing them, regardless of the law.

The union should be a tool for black, women, LGBT+, disabled and neurodivergent workers to organise against inequality and discrimination, at work and in society.

The most common line of attack against equality is the false notion of competing rights hence the notion that the rights of women and those of trans and non-binary people are at odds.

“Equality at the heart of everything we do” needs to be more than a slogan. PCS has strong equality structures at all levels of the union, but there is often a disconnect between these structures and the broader work of the union. This needs to be addressed so that the slogan becomes a reality.

Your occasional reminder that LU claim breakthroughs where none exist. Just preparing for the announcements around the so-called national pay talks with the Cabinet Office. pcsindependentleft.com/2023/09/

Left Unity, described the Government’s below inflation 2023-24 pay remit as a “significant concession.” But when the remit was first published Mark Serwotka said “ That is not enough, it’s half the rate of inflation and we need more.”

Of course the uplift of the min wage impacts on more than the DWP. PCS estimates around 40,000 staff are on or near the minimum wage. So tens of thousands of staff will see a pay rise next year. Therefore it is a systemic problem. So has LU sought to solve this system wide problem. No.

The DWP pay crisis is undeniable. The new £12.77 minimum wage means 22% of DWP staff (19,655 workers) are currently paid below the legal minimum! The 2016 Employee Deal failed to future-proof pay, leaving thousands selling weekends for a poverty wage.

If you can attend do so. We must stand by the Ukrainian labour movement.

Read the latest IL article on our website: pcsindependentleft.com/2025/11/24/l...

PCS is a minority union. Successful unions don't wait though until they reach perfect density before taking risks; they use the fight itself to recruit and consolidate power.

Left Unity never wanted a ballot or a serious campaign in the first place. The entire process—the late notice, no real publicity or drive to build for events, the confusing deadlines, and the misuse of the stress text concept, was designed to blame activists for the leadership’s own failings.

LU are seemingly happy with protracted national talks, ministerial engagements, and polite, pointless lobbying. This approach means they avoid an unpredictable mass mobilisation. Their priority isn't building power to fight the employer; it's internal stability and staying in power.

The Independent Left (IL) within PCS contests the leadership’s optimism regarding national talks. Given the government’s consistent approach—and pay limits set for the NHS/SCS—we must be realistic: a special, better deal for PCS members is highly unlikely.

2.5% in 2026. Given that the government is trying to hard cap pay at 2.5% for the NHS, and is enforcing the same limit for the SCS, do we really think it is likely that PCS will get a special deal, a better deal than the NHS? To read more: pcsindependentleft.com/2025/11/17/2...

Reform UK's plan for government, outlined by Danny Kruger MP, includes a massive overhaul of the Civil Service. The goal is a 30% overall headcount cut, targeting a return to 2016 staffing levels. This would impact over £100K civil servants.

Read the latest: pcsindependentleft.com/2025/11/13/l...

The DHSC's NHS pay submission, recommending a 2.5% cap, confirms a hard line driven by the Spending Review (SR25). Ministers are telling the NHS (despite pay pressure from BMA/RCN) that awards must be funded within existing budgets. No access to the reserve.

The Government seemingly has set its 2026 pay policy. DHSC evidence to the NHS Pay Review Body shows they plan for a 2.5% uplift, warning anything higher would force "trade-offs" against health commitments. The Cabinet Office is asking for the same 2.5% cap for Senior Civil Service pay.

How Left Unity Distorted a Key Organizing Concept to Cancel a Ballot: pcsindependentleft.com/2025/11/10/h...

We argue that PCS must immediately restart preparations for an industrial action campaign. Given the time LU has wasted, we need a proper run-up before a statutory ballot can succeed.

PCS President says that PCS is “working to secure an agreement with the employer on pay restoration...” and at the same time he acknowledges that “jobs, pay and the services you provide are all under threat of further cuts as the budget approaches in November.”

It is extraordinary that as we wait for the so-called national pay talks to begin the union is not planning any accompanying campaign to put pressure on UK civil service senior managers. Those talks, such as they are will therefore be held in a vacuum.

Read our latest posting. The President’s Confident Claim vs. Reality pcsindependentleft.com/2025/11/04/t...

If you have missed out on recent articles on the IL website then go to pcsindependentleft.com When you are there, why not sign up to our email alert service (top of the site at the right hand side) so that you don't miss out on future postings.

Civil Service World also says that 2.5% will be recommended for senior civil service. Will 2.5% be the public sector norm? If so, that sinks any hope (faint as it was) that the national talks that PCS is joining will lead to any real improvements.

PCS i.e. Left Unity have posted 'Following delegated pay talks, and a series of consultations with groups and members, the NEC agreed that there is not a strong enough case to move to an industrial action ballot under the national campaign at this time, though this will be kept under review'.

PCS, that is LU, is entering civil service pay talks "unarmed" as it choose not to ballot members for industrial action. This lack of a strike threat strips the union of all leverage. They're relying on strong arguments (13% real-terms pay fall, recruitment crisis, pay compression) but power counts.

From day one of the full scale invasion the IL has supported the right of the Ukrainian people to self determination, as we do for the Palestinian people.

Shortly branches will be told that there will be no ballot and that the union is entering national talks on pay, job security etc. The Independent Left (IL) believes this approach is wrong. This moment demands activity as opposed to going into sleep mode.

DWP plans include closing the Lincoln Service Centre and Service & Support Centres in Dover, Warrington, and St Helens, plus run a VER scheme in Caxton House, London. The PCS DWP Group Executive Committee (GEC) states it will "fight every office closure with every tool at its disposal."

The average pay award was 3.5%, but inflation (CPI) is stuck at 3.8% for the third month running. So 2025 pay round has delivered a real-terms pay cut for most members. We're worse off than last year. The basic duty of a union is to protect living standards—and Left Unity has failed - again.

There is a debate within PCS over our strategy for pay/jobs and terms and conditions. One view (LU) sees talking to Labour as the primary means to achieve National Pay & job security. The alternative (IL) argues dialogue must be underpinned by putting in place the machinery for a national ballot.

We believe LU plans to argue at Thursday's NEC that members have no interest in a ballot, but they generated zero enthusiasm! They ran no campaign & kept members in the dark. We predict the LU majority will rubber-stamp the GS's recommendation to send the union into "sleep mode." We say: Wake Up!