To: All Members (1:10) MoD/MB/55/08
cc: Group Executive Committee
Dear Colleagues,
National Action Suspended – Information for MoD Members
As you will be aware by now the NEC met on 7 November and decided to suspend the national strike planned for Monday 10 November and the overtime ban proposed to follow it. National officers will now enter into formal talks with the government.
The NEC made this decision because of the letter received from Sir Gus O’Donnell, Head of the Civil Service, which agreed that discussions should take place to address the concerns that form the basis of this national pay dispute and that the period during which the union could legally take industrial action would be extended by 28 days.
It is important that all MoD members realise that the programme of action which members voted for in the national ballot has not been cancelled: we have agreed not to take any action while talks are taking place to find a solution to the dispute. We have always said we would try and get a negotiated settlement if at all possible.
We would like to thank all members and reps who worked hard to prepare for the action on the 10 November and for your continuing support. In the MoD Group, the GEC set up a sub-committee that contacted all branches prior to the day of action to offer help and support. Had the action gone ahead, we know that we would have had a record number of picket lines at MoD sites with a record number of pickets on duty and attending the rallies up and down the country.
There is little doubt that senior MoD were aware of this and would have reported this back to the Cabinet office. We have absolutely no doubt that the strength of feeling shown in the MoD has been replicated across all groups and this will have heavily influenced Gus O’Donnell to write to our union agreeing that discussions should take place to address the concerns that form the basis of this dispute
By simply voting for and preparing to take action on 10 November, members in the MoD have now alongside all PCS members put in place a negotiating process that we hope will lead to an acceptable settlement. It remains to be seen whether enough progress will be made to form the basis of an acceptable settlement. If not, we must stand ready to take action.
In the build up to any industrial action there is always a higher than average rise in those who wish to join and those who wish to leave our union. This happened again in the lead up to November 10. We are delighted to say, however, that membership density in the MoD group has once again increased in the lead up to 10 November as it did prior to the days of action in 2007.
We welcome any new members to our union as the more members we have increases our bargaining power with the employer. You have joined the fastest growing union in the country and a union that is now consistently delivering for its members.
For those of you who have chosen to resign your membership, that of course is your democratic right and we respect that. However, we would ask that you reconsider. As stated above, the best possible chance we have of success is to have the highest possible membership density. The reality is that once again our intention to stand together in solidarity has caused the government to sit up and take notice.
Whatever the outcome of the talks, our union applied the pressure that brought them about. Every other avenue had been exhausted and as always the decision to move to action was a last resort but hopefully members who thought that industrial action or has happened on this occasion (as it happened when we protected our pensions), the threat of industrial action does not deliver will think again.
Nobody in the MoD group can afford to lose a day’s pay, but conversely and more importantly we believe nobody in the MoD group can afford to submissively accept below inflation pay offers that in reality are pay cuts for our already poorly paid members.
The ‘credit crunch’ we find ourselves in at present is not the fault of civil servants. The situation has been brought about by the banks that gambled with customer’s funds and have been bailed out of their mess with £500 billion of taxpayer’s money. £500 billion that the government apparently didn’t have! It will cost only £300 million to resolve the progression issue and bring every single servant into line with every other public sector worker.
We are not asking for special favours, we only want fairness. It is not unreasonable for our members – many of whom are among the lowest paid workers in the UK – to want to protect their living standards, particularly in these times of economic uncertainty. Our demands in the current national pay campaign are listed again below
· Consolidated basic pay increases at least equal to the retail price index
· Remove pay progression costs from budgets for increases
· Fewer separate pay negotiations
· Funding to remedy equal pay problems
· No link between pay and performance appraisal
· An end to pressure for regional pay
Finally, there may be cases where members did not attend work in the MOD on November 10 because it had not been possible to notify them that the strike was suspended. Where management are unsympathetic to such instances, please contact your local rep who will raise it up to the MOD group office so that the issue can be raised with the Cabinet Office.
Chris Dando
MoD Group President
Paul Barnsley
MoD Group Secretary
