09 November 2007
Whitehall's largest trade union this week re-entered 'meaningful' talks with the Cabinet Office, despite voting overwhelmingly for further industrial action over civil service pay, privatisation and job cuts.
The move represents a breakthrough in the long-running dispute between Whitehall managers and their staff.
However, the sudden truce is fragile, with union leaders threatening immediate if any government department imposes compulsory redundancies during the discussions.
Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, which represents 300,000 public servants, said he would give negotiations over the government's civil service reform agenda 'one last shot' before considering a fresh wave of industrial action. The decision reduces, but does not eliminate, the prospect of a third national strike in 2007.
'Meaningful negotiations have begun and we have until the end of the year to try and address our long-standing grievances,' Serwotka revealed on November 6.
He met Cabinet Office officials on November 5 to agree the timetable for the talks.
Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell is keen to break the stand-off between civil servants and their staff, which was caused by below-inflation pay deals, the loss of thousands of jobs and ministerial plans to privatise delivery agencies, such as JobcentrePlus.
More than 68% of PCS members backed the union's proposals for further national industrial action in a ballot result which was announced on October 31.
Despite the vote, the union's executive committee decided against an immediate confrontation with the government.
However, Serwotka warned: 'We're committed to talks producing an acceptable outcome. But if, while those talks take place, they issue any compulsory redundancy notices… we will immediately convene our national executive to call for a national strike. We've got talks, but we don't have an agreed outcome.'
Mediators on both sides are likely to come under immediate pressure. Whitehall sources told Public Finance that three departments are considering new compulsory redundancies as they strive to meet government efficiency targets: the departments for Work and Pensions and Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, and the Office for National Statistics.
A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said that 'change is a continuing feature of the civil service, just like any other employer', and urged the PCS to 'use normal industrial relations processes to progress their concerns'.
The fragile truce could also be undermined by separate pay talks at the DWP. The department is considering the imposition of a three-year pay deal that would mean many staff receive a pay freeze in 2008/09 and a rise of just 1% in 2009/10.
Serwotka said that could initiate strikes confined to the department, but stressed that 'should not undermine' the broader [Whitehall-wide] discussions.
PFnov2007
