CIVIL SERVICE COMPENSATION SCHEME

Defend our
CAMPAIGN UPDATE 2 | DECEMBER 2009

compensation scheme
DEFEND OUR JOBS
PREPARE FOR ACTION
The Government has made proposals on cutting the civil
service compensation scheme. Following pressure from the Action gets results
union, minor changes have been made to the proposals. But
hundreds of thousands of PCS members would still be robbed The government made the
of their rights to fair redundancy pay. changes to the first proposals
on cuts in compulsory terms
The government has now said that it will implement the cuts, after pressure by the union.
despite previous promises from Ministers that talks would be Thousands of you contacted
held with the unions to find an agreement before changes to the your MPs and responded to the
current system are made. government’s consultation.
35,000 PCS members attended
Given the scale of the proposed cuts to redundancy payments, workplace meetings organised
and the threat to job security that would result, the national by the union expressing their
executive committee has agreed to launch legal action and to opposition to the government’s
hold a ballot on national industrial action in the new year. proposals.

We have written to the Minister, Tessa Jowell, saying that in There is no need for cuts to
order to avoid industrial and legal action, the government must pay for the national financial
try to reach an agreement with the unions before changes to the crisis: the government could
CSCS are made. Otherwise, a special NEC meeting will agree the collect the billions in tax owed
details and timetable for the ballot in January. by large companies rather than
make ordinary public servants
Defend our jobs pay for the recession.
The government says it wants to save £500 million. But the
changes are clearly designed to help make it easier to cut jobs
at a time when we know the political parties are all talking
about massive public spending cuts after the next general
election. And privatisation would be more likely as the cuts
in workers’ terms and conditions are attractive to private
companies. This cynical attack by the government on its own
employees is a disgrace.

Public and Commercial Services Union | www.pcs.org.uk

 What the government’s proposals would mean for you
The CSCS is the redundancy and early retirement payment
What you can do
scheme for the civil service and non departmental public
bodies. If your employer is in the principal civil service pension
• Attend your union meetings.
scheme (PCSPS), you are likely to be covered by the CSCS.
• Contact your MP making
The government wants to cut both voluntary and compulsory
clear you oppose the
redundancy/early retirement terms. Money available for
government’s proposals.
voluntary schemes would be slashed to a bare minimum and
Details of how to email your
compulsory redundancy will become more likely.
MP are on the PCS website:
www.pcs.org.uk
The changes made to the original proposals on compulsory
terms are to cap payments at three instead of two years where
• Recruit your colleagues to
this leads to a payment of less than £50,000. In other cases
the union.
the payment will be limited to two years pay. Only the very
lowest paid would be affected by the changes.
• If you are not a PCS member
join and get active! The
• For someone aged 41 who earns £24,000 and has 20 year’s
more members we have,
service, their current entitlement if made compulsorily
the more successful we will
redundant would be £72,000. Under the Government’s
be in defending our terms
original proposals it would have been £48,000, a loss of
and conditions. If the CSCS
one third. Under the revised proposals it would still only
proposals are implemented
be £50,000.
we will be giving the
government and future
• For someone aged 51 who earns £24,000 and has 20 year’s
governments the green
service their current entitlement if made compulsorily
light to make job cuts.
redundant is for an enhanced lump sum of £24,000,
an additional lump sum of £12,000 and an immediate
For further information about
payment of enhanced pension of £8,000 a year. Under the
our campaign and why you
original proposals their new entitlement would have been
should get involved please visit
just £48,000 and an unenhanced pension and lump sum
www.pcs.org.uk
paid only when they reached age 60. The revised proposals
only change that to £50,000.

Everybody will be worse off under the government’s proposals

– those with longer service will be robbed of their accrued
rights, and those with shorter service will be more vulnerable
to redundancy as they are cheaper to lose. The union is
demanding that members of the nuvos pension scheme should
also be covered by the CSCS.

Prepare for action

The national executive committee has decided to hold a ballot
on a campaign of national industrial action in the New Year
unless Ministers make it clear that our concerns will be subject
to negotiation and no changes will made until we reach an
agreement. We have also begun the process of challenging
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the Cabinet Office proposals in the courts. Other civil service

unions are taking part in this legal action.

Public and Commercial Services Union | www.pcs.org.uk