News

NEW (30 October)
PCS Pay Rally
There will be an all members meeting on Pay and Pensions on Monday 3 November at midday at the Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, London. PCS General Secretary, Mark Serwotka, President Janice Godrich & the Rt Hon. John McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington, will be speaking. Please do come along!

See the following information & poster & see you on Monday.

NEW (29 October)
ONS London Waiting Constituencies Campaign
On 21 October Mark Serwortka & ONS London BEC members handed over 300 letters to MPs. This map shows the coverage our campaign had: Constituencies covered by ONS London's Waiting Campaign

(9 July)
Public Sector Union Vows to Oppose Increase in Pension Age
On the final day of the Public and Commercial Services Union Annual Delegate Conference the issue of pensions was top of the agenda seeing an impassioned debate with delegates calling for a vigorous campaign against the increased pension age for public sector workers.

(7 July)
PCS Learndirect Centre Wins Award

The PCS learndirect centre in central London was awarded the 'Matrix' standard for giving information and advice on learning following inspection by the Guidance Accreditation Board (GAB).

The award is testimony to the ability of staff at the centre to give people good quality information about courses, to help them enrol on the right course and to help them find other sources of information, advice and guidance on learning and careers.

In addition the centre has gained approval to become a test centre for the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL) which is one of the most widely recognised qualifications in computer skills. PCS Organising & Learning Services plans to offer the tests from October 2003. More information is available on the learndirect page.

(9 May)
PCS Picnic in the Park
London and South East Region is organising a picnic on 25 June at Victoria Embankment Gardens. Please log in to the PCS website to see the details.

(7 February)
Stop the War
A world-wide day of activity aimed at stopping the proposed war on Iraq is planned for Saturday 15 February - the NEC is supporting this. Details; The NEC Statement concerning the War on Iraq.

(23 October)
Pay Bulletin
A pay bulletin for PCS Members in ONS has been issued by our Full Time Officer Veronica Bayne: ONS/MB/06/02.

(21 October)
Pay Meeting
An all-members pay meeting is being organised on Tuesday 29 October 2002 at 2:30pm in the Drummond Gate canteen*. (Separate arrangements will be made for union members working at Myddleton Place).Richard Price, ONS London's pay negotiator, will explain what the offer means & answer your questions. It is your opportunity to say what you feel about this year's pay offer. One hours facility time has been granted (don't key out). *Separate arrangements will be made for union members working at Myddleton Place.

(11 October)
Pay 2002 Final Offer
The 2002 pay talks have now been concluded & Veronica Bayne, our full-time officer has issued this bulletin on this year's pay offer.

(17 September)
Pay Negotiation Statistics Tables are now available on the PCS HQ website providing information on inflation, pay settlements & average earnings figures for the last few months.

(21 August)
The New Pension Scheme - Make To Right Choice For You A recent article in the Daily announced that the new PCPCS scheme document packs will start arriving on staff's desks next week: you will be given a period of at least two months to consider the options and make a decision. Free independent advice is available to any member who needs help in making their choice (a link is provided to a form so that you can apply for this advice).

Please also see http://www.pcs.org.uk/prid/pensions/index.htm on the PCS HQ website.

(21 August)
PCS London News (August/September 2002) The first issue of our new branch journal has now been published. Read about the recent PCS court case, Performance Related Pay, and The Misery of Commuting in London. Paper copies will also distributed to all members.

(7 August)
ONS Pay Claim Pay negotiations are due to start on Monday 12 August. Today all members of staff will receive a copy of the Unity Pays newsletter with information about the pay negotoiation process. the first of a series which will provide a guide to pay terminology, pay comparisons and equal pay. When this year's pay comparisons are available they will be placed on unionweb with a link from the pay page.

(31 July)
High Court Ruling: Mark is the General Secretary
This morning the High Court ruled that Mark Serwotka is the General Secretary of PCS. More information follow see the PCS HQ website.

(31 July)
Runcorn: Don't think it couldn't happen to you
In May, on the way to a Group Executive Committee meeting at the Southport office I visited our colleagues at the Runcorn site, which is facing closure in the next few months. I asked our TU colleagues what it was like as work. moves out & the office shuts down. We need to be aware as one day many staff in London could easily suffer a similar fate. The following article is part of the forthcoming ONS London branch journal.

(26 July)
Court Case verdict & meeting
At 10am on 31 July The High Court will rule as to whether Barry Reamsbottom's "Moderate" attempt to overturn the result of the PCS Union General Secretary election has been successful.

Campaigners against the coup attempt are asked to attend a rally outside the High Court, The Strand, London from 9.30 am.

Download attached file: http://uk.indymedia.org/local/webcast/uploads/wpm_5f3b.pdf. There will be a meeting in the evening addressed by Mark Serwotka, PCS General Secretary Elect,, at Friends Meeting House, 6pm, on Wednesday 31 July.

(25 July)
Pensions
A new pensions scheme for civil servants is going to be introduced in October 2002...More.

PCS has secured the services of Bishopscourt Financial Planning Limited (BFPL), an independent financial planning company, so that members can receive additional information about the new pension scheme arrangements.

See also Vivian Davies' article on pensions in Onslaught 19.

(18 June)
PCS HQ's new website
The launch of the new website has been delayed until August because their web design partners have experienced technical difficulties. Once launched you will need your membership number to log in. You can find this on your entry on the membership database & also printed on literature you received from HQ.

(12 June)
Defend PCS democracy
Wednesday 19 June 7:30pm Rally at Friends Meeting House, Euston Road (opposite Euston Station - click here to see map). Speakers include Mark Serwotka & Janice Godrich. See also the latest newsbrief (5 June).

(29 May)
PCS Democracy Dossier
Links to a range of websites providing information about the Challenge to Democracy

(27 May)
Challenge to Democracy
Special members meeting called for 2:30 on 6 June 2002

(29 April)
PCS Election Results
See the Branch Bulletin from Mark Serwotka.

(24 April)
ONS Estates Strategy
At our BEC meeting on 10 April we agreed to adopt the following statement with regards to the ONS Estates Strategy.

(11 April)
New PCS website
The current PCS website is about to be overhauled. It will become largely members-only & to view most pages you will be required to log in, so please make sure your know your PCS Membership number.

(11 April)
Onslaught 19
The latest branch journal from ONS Newport with a review of Pay 2001, a preview of the forthcoming pay round; Newports journey to city status, information about the new Civil Service Pension Scheme & the regular news updates from Gez, Dom & the crew.

(6 March)
Gender Pay Gap Widens
6 March PCS has published research showing that the quarter of a million women working in the civil service receive 28% less pay than their male colleagues, creating a civil service gender pay gap wider than the national average.

(13 February)
London Weighting
A report for the Greater London Assembly London Weighting Panel calls for a pay increase for London civil servants

(28 January)
More Staff Back Benefit Strike
28 January Over 40,000 staff in Jobcentres and benefit offices have begun a national 48 hour strike in protest at management's dismissal of their fears over safety in the new Jobcentre Plus offices. Even more staff joined the action after management's claims of a safe Jobcentre Plus were shattered by the wrecking of a flagship office by a disgruntled claimant armed with a metal ball and chain.

News from 2000 & 2001

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