Page 2 - Left Unity News Today

The Left Unity leadership (LU) of the PCS civil service union is conducting a “survey”, over just two weeks, to gauge membership support for its 2024-25 pay demands and for strike action. LU failed to consult branches about the demands, sprang the survey on them without providing campaign materials, and has not given them time to campaign effectively for members’ support. The survey was issued to members on 20 February on a non “https” secure server. Some members expressed security con...

Academic research commissioned by the civil service union PCS has concluded: “... UK Civil Service wages have dramatically eroded in real terms due to persistent below-inflation pay rises. Depending on the inflation indicator used, at best, real wages in 2023 were at where they were two decades ago... Since 2010, median annual pay has fallen between 15 and 38% in the civil service, depending on the grade and inflation indicator.”

A paper of Marxist polemic and Marxist unity

The Independent Left group in the civil service union PCS, which includes supporters of Workers’ Liberty, has reached electoral agreement with Broad Left Network to challenge the ruling Left Unity ( LU) group in the 2024 PCS National Executive (NEC) elections, for which nominations have already started and voting is in the spring.

There is much talk in establishment circles about the British army being too small and the need to gear up for war against Russia. Under these circumstances the left needs clear programmatic answers, says Jack Conrad

The Independent Left group in the civil service union PCS, which includes supporters of Workers’ Liberty, has reached electoral agreement with Broad Left Network to challenge the ruling Left Unity ( LU) group in the 2024 PCS National Executive (NEC) elections, for which nominations have already started and voting is in the spring.

There were two topics on the agenda: the Israel-Gaza war and the coming general election. Scott Evans reports on the January 21 aggregate for CPGB members and supporters

We must reject bureaucratic centralism, sects of one and diplomatic unity-mongering. Instead, we must uphold the right to engage in sharp polemics and form factions, says Mike Macnair. This is an edited version of his January 21 Online Communist Forum talk

Members of the PCS civil service union appear to be heading for another tough pay year. National talks with the Cabinet Office (CO) are going nowhere fast following the PCS leadership’s June derailment of our 2022-23 national pay campaign. On the 10 January the Government published its “Civil Service People Plan 2024-2027”. Despite the national pay talks the People Plan does not address:

Naming your organisation Talking About Socialism and then not wanting to talk is as perverse as it is revealing. Mike Macnair responds to the arguments of Nick Wrack and Will McMahon