Public and Commercial Services Union

Quality Public Services

Quality Public Services is a global campaign to ensure that public services are well resourced, with skilled staff delivering services that are effective, participatory, accessible and in tune with community needs. Quality public services (QPS) are essential if the world is to meet important social objectives such as the eradication of poverty and hunger.

The campaign is being coordinated by Public Service International (PSI).

PCS is affiliated to PSI - a global union federation made up of more than 600 trade unions. They represent more than 20 million workers who deliver public services in 160 countries around the world. PCS is now represented on the PSI world executive committee and on the working group planning merger between PSI and EPSU.

Bilateral working relations with unions in Europe

Sweden

We are working with ST (the Swedish equivalent of PCS) towards building a strategic partnership in terms of our work in EPSU and PSI.

We received a delegation from ST (GS. DGS and President) in October 2006 and explored future bilateral working relations. PCS returned the visit in November 2007. The next step arising out of the trip include developing a link between the HMRC Group and the Young Members Forum and their equivalents in ST.

France

PCS has given practical support and solidarity to our counterparts in France who are also campaigning against attacks on jobs and pensions by the Sarkozy government.

PCS already has links with the French public sector union Force Ouvrière (FO) and participated in demonstrations against job cuts and worsening conditions, held in Paris by FO and other public service trade unions in February 2007.

Letters of solidarity were sent to FO supporting further days of action taken in August and November 2007. Anne-Marie Perret from Force Ouvrière, currently the President of EPSU, was a keynote speaker at the PCS annual delegate conference 2007 international rally.

PCS and the global economy - offshoring

For most people in the UK, the impact of the global economy is visible through the goods they buy and the services they use.

Jobs are also affected - with the threat now extended to skilled labour, especially in information and communicatiosn technology. PCS members have been at the receiving end of this development as a significant number of jobs have been off-shored in the Commercial Sector, involving multinational companies such as EDS and Siemens.

PCS held a national seminar in January 2007 to explore the best ways in which PCS can build on the work that it is already doing to take forward the campaign against off-shoring. Although off-shoring was the key component of the theme for the seminar, related issues such as GATS procurement and union capacity building were also discussed. There has since been much discussion with the companies involved. A key component of the discussions revolves around the development of an agreement on how offshoring will be handled across the IT sector.

Progress is being made on a draft concordat facilitated by the Work Foundation.

International development

IDLF Access / DFID grants

PCS has submitted successfully a bid for TUC and DFID funding to raise development awareness amongst members.

The initial IDLF bid project aims to increase the union’s internal capacity through TUC and IDLF assistance to be in a position to later bid for DFID Development Awareness Fund funding.

Through our IDLF Access biddevelopment awareness project, we are exploring the possibility of setting up an international network to maximise the opportunity for members to take on issues at the workplace.

War on Want

PCS sponsored and supported the War on Want publication “Profit from Poverty” which highlighted the role of DFID’s current policy and the use of consultants.

We also organised a joint workshop with War on Want on privatisation in the global economy at the PSI Congress in September 2007 in Vienna. PCS and War on Want have agreed on a memorandum of understanding in January 2007 on how we will be taking our work forward.

We will work with War on Want on taking forward on Motion A39 ADC 2007 Third World Debt.

Social Dialogue

PCS has been working with EPSU to develop the EU-wide Social Dialogue in the national administration sector, which gives social partners including unions the opportunity to influence developments regarding employment and ongoing reforms at the European level.

There have been positive developments and work is now well underway to set up a formal Social Dialogue across national administrations in the EU.

It is hoped that this stage of the process will conclude in 2009, possibly during the Swedish Presidency.