Public and Commercial Services Union
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| Public and Commercial Services Union | |
| Members | 320,000 |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Affiliation | TUC, STUC |
| Key people | Mark Serwotka, general secretary Janice Godrich, president |
| Office location | London, England |
| Website | www.pcs.org.uk |
The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) is the sixth largest trade union in the United Kingdom. Most of its members work in government departments and other public bodies although some work for private companies.
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[edit] Membership and organisation
The union was founded in 1998 by the merger of the Public Services, Tax and Commerce Union (which mostly represented the executive 'managerial' grades of the Civil Service) and the Civil and Public Services Association (mostly representing the administrative grades).
The union has over 320,000 members and is the largest active trade union representing Civil Servants in the UK. PCS is the fastest growing union in the UK, at a time when union membership is generally on the decline. Its current general secretary is Mark Serwotka. PCS is affiliated to both the Trades Union Congress and the Scottish TUC but not to the Labour Party.
Day to day management of PCS is organised into groups that deal with different bargaining units. The main bargaining units are Revenue and Customs, Department for Work and Pensions, Law and Justice, Civil Service General and the commercial sector. Each group has local or regional branches and representatives in the workplace.
In 2006 the union launched a bi-monthly magazine, Activate, which is distributed to its 10,000 activists.
[edit] Strikes involving PCS members
In November 2004, PCS workers across government departments undertook a one day strike in protest against government plans to cut the Civil Service by 20%. This was the biggest strike of its kind in a generation with well over 200,000 taking part.
In January 2007, the union announced that members had voted for industrial action in protest against the continued threat of compulsory redundancies and relocations, outsourcing to the private sector, and in defence of decent pensions, adequate resourcing to provide public services and a requirement for a fair, national pay system. The action included a one-day strike, which took place on 31 January, followed by a two-week overtime ban and further discontinuous action. With employers still not committing to formal negotiations to resolve the dispute, a further national one-day strike took place on 1 May.
[edit] Equality Networks
PCS has a network for young members (aged 27 and under).
PCS has a network for LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual & Trans) members.
PCS has a network for associate and retired members.
