Fair Deal ballot briefing 2 – Vote YES/YES for an end to privatisation

A key objective of our Fair Deal campaign is to stop privatisation in the Ministry of Defence and to review all previous transfers of work. In our recent consultative ballot, 98% of members agreed with our fight against privatisation.

History has shown us that our job security, pay and terms and conditions are all under threat following privatisation. Since the 1980s the UK’s public services have been under constant threat from privatisation, despite growing evidence that it leads to worsened services, higher costs, fatter profits and a greater risk of failure.

This political ideology has seen the energy and transport sectors deregulated, resulting in continuing price rises well in excess of inflation. While the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) sees areas such as the NHS, education and our own department locked into 20 - 30 year contracts, with taxpayers stuck with huge, on-going spending commitments – often for items, sites or services that are no longer required.

However, just like the casino bankers who caused the financial crisis, the risks associated with PFI have not transferred to the private sector. The UK taxpayer bails out PFI failures (of which there are an increasing number) as essential public services cannot be allowed to fail. Like the major banks, it would be impossible to conceive of an NHS Trust or school being allowed to go under.

MoD privatisation

We have seen more than our fair share of privatisation in our department. Introduced as part of moving from a provider to a decider role, the outcome has been to lose our ability to act as an intelligent customer and to hold companies to account. This puts providers in a ‘no lose’ situation, charging exorbitant fees to support the front line.

The sale of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency is the most glaring example of dubious privatisation. The setting up of a public/private partnership called QinetiQ made 10 senior civil servants multi-millionaires, as their total personal investment of £540,000 turned into £107 million, whilst a National Audit Office review concluded that the taxpayer lost “tens of millions” on the sale.

Failure follows failure

Europe’s largest IT privatisation, the Defence Information Infrastructure project (DII), was predicted to cost £2.3bn over 10 years. Since then, costs have risen to some £10bn, or £1bn a year, for a service that is barely adequate running software described as ‘the least secure on the planet’ (Internet Explorer 6, launched in 2001). As you wait to log on in the morning, browse the internet, or save a file, you can decide whether the service we get from DII is worth nearly £3M a day.

After the G4S failure at the Olympics, where our armed forces had to step in to save the day, we might have thought that privatisation would have had its day. But some in MoD persevere, with the latest proposal being the planned privatisation of Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S). Our union believes the GoCo proposals will be costly and extremely risky, with the potential of conflict of interests with major suppliers and our international partners being unwilling to share their technical knowledge, specifications and classified information with a privatised DE&S.

Pensions and Privatisation

Every time the value of our pension decreases, a private company bidding for MoD work will not need to bid as much to take over that work. So, for example, at Abbey Wood we estimate that staff there have lost over £14M from the value of their pensions in the current year alone. Thus any company bidding to take on the proposed GoCo will be getting a workforce at £14m cheaper than last year. 

Conclusion 

Privatisation of defence services has failed. Costs and risks have increased, while contractors have grown fat on regular contracts and payments from the MoD. While for staff, time and time again privatisation leads to lower pay, worsened job security and a degradation of terms and conditions.

The Ministry of Defence has become more and more dependant on the private sector supporting the front line, with no fall back capability should things go wrong.

We believe its time to look again at whether privatisation is the answer and to review all existing and proposed contracts to ensure that they are delivering for defence.

By voting YES/YES in our statutory ballot, we can send a powerful message that privatisation should be taken off the agenda in our department, whilst those staff who remain committed to supporting defence should be guaranteed a Fair Deal.

The statutory ballot runs from 19^th November to 5^th December. If you haven’t received a ballot paper by 27^th November, then please contact the group office on 0207 801 2634/2645.

Fair Deal ballot briefing 1 – Vote YES/YES

The verdict of members is clear – we refuse to accept pay cuts. Our recent consultative ballot delivered an overwhelming mandate to move forward with our Fair Deal campaign. More than 98% supported the campaign objectives, with over 77% willing to take industrial action to deliver them.

We are now balloting members on that action and these briefings will concentrate on each of our key campaign objectives to show why members should vote YES/YES.

Feedback from the consultative ballot and workplace meetings shows that members have had enough of the pay freeze and the decline in pay in the Ministry of Defence. Inflation continues to increase, eroding the small increase that those earning below £21,000 recently received and leaving those who got nothing for the second year running further adrift. The recent gradual recovery in the value of wage settlements in the wider economy, coupled with the incremental increases awarded to the armed forces, has increased the sense of grievance among defence sector members.

Every member has their own story to tell about what the pay freeze has meant to them, but unless we secure pay rises at least in line with inflation, the MoD will soon have members of staff working hard by day but queuing for food parcels at night.

How our pay has been cut

The impact of a pay freeze is hard to see because it is slow and subtle, but it is huge. The table below shows what our pay should be if the MoD and this coalition government wasn’t devaluing our pay year on year:

Grade (National)	Maximum £	Maximum if kept pace with RPI inflation since start of pay freeze in 2010*	Difference – pay cut in real terms £
B1	69,409.00	76,696.95	7,287.95
B2	57,245.00	63,255.73	6,010.73
C1	42,565.00	47,034.33	4,469.33
C2	34,936.00	38,604.28	3,668.28
D	27,973.00	30,910.17	2,937.17
E1	20,676.00	22,846.98	2,170.98
E2	17,584.00	19,430.32	1,846.32

* RPI inflation of 10.5% from Apr 2010 to Sept 2012. Source: www.statistics.gov.uk

Pensions

Unfortunately our employer has actually reduced our take home pay, through increased pension contributions. The April 2012 increase was the first of three, with more to follow each April until 2014. We now pay more and work longer for a smaller pension when we eventually retire.

Other factors

Pay restraint for the foreseeable future and mooted proposals for regional pay, will push more members below the breadline. Using the same timeframe (Apr 2010 to Sept 2012) we can see just how far our pay has fallen behind the real cost of living:

Product or Service	Apr 2010 price	Sept 2012 price	Increase £	Increase %
Gas *	£600 per year	£720 per year	£120	20%
Electricity *	£500 per year	£590 per year	£90	18%
Petrol	120.5p per litre	140.2p per litre	19.7p	16.4%
Public transport (based on London 7 day travelcard zones 1-4)	£36.80	£41.80	£5.00	13.5%
Childcare (based on 25 hours per week)	£88.00	£101.00	£13.00	14.8%
Average weekly shopping basket	£65.80	£77.00	£11.20	17%

 * These figures do not include the recently announced energy price increases.

Conclusion 

Working in the MoD at present is bad for your wallet. But we have a chance to do something about the hurt we are all suffering, by forcing the MoD to change course.

By voting YES/YES in our ballot, we can force the department to take our concerns on pay seriously and to demand fair pay as part of a Fair Deal in Defence.

Make your voice count and vote for a fairer future, where all staff are treated with dignity and respect and all who work in defence receive at least a living wage.

The statutory ballot runs from 19 November – 5 December. If you haven’t received a ballot paper by 27 November, then please contact 0207 801 2634/2645.

It’s time to vote for a Fair Deal

Regrettably the meeting with the Permanent Secretary failed to take place yesterday as Jon Thompson was unwell. We were therefore unable to press him on our campaign objectives.

We have been unable to re-arrange the meeting so far, as it is unclear when he will return.

We have already had several meetings with Mr Thompson and other senior MoD management on our Fair Deal objectives without achieving a breakthrough, so we have now decided to go ahead with the ballot for industrial action and action short of a strike in the Ministry of Defence. This will commence as planned on Monday 19 November and will run until 5 December.

We have written to the PUS making it clear that if meaningful talks commence during the ballot period, then we will be prepared to suspend the deadline to commence industrial action so that an agreement can be reached.

Make your vote count, vote YES/YES for a Fair Deal in Defence

Please make sure that you vote in this important ballot. It takes minutes to do so, but the positive effects of winning our campaign could last for years. 

A convincing YES/YES vote will strengthen our hand at the negotiating table and gives us a mandate for effective industrial action across the department in support of a Fair Deal should those negotiations break down.

Branches will be holding meetings about the ballot during this period. Please make sure you attend, or ask your rep to set one up if there is not one in your workplace. There will also be regular updates about why you should vote and support our Fair Deal campaign. To be added to our electronic distribution list and receive yours, email modo@pcs.org.uk and tell us your home email address and mobile number.

Ballot papers will be despatched by our independent scrutineers from Monday 19 November. If you haven’t received a ballot paper by 27 November, please phone 0207 801 2634/2645.

Fair Deal in Defence campaign

This Thursday our union will be meeting with the Permanent Secretary to attempt to progress our concerns over the theft of our bonus payments; changes to terms and conditions and the impact of job cuts on remaining staff.

PUS will be left in no doubt that PCS members now demand a Fair Deal in Defence, where staff are treated with respect and given the tools and support to carry out their job without being exploited.

We have made it clear that if we do not achieve meaningful progress in achieving our Fair Deal objectives through dialogue, then we will have no choice but to move forward with a ballot for industrial action to achieve our aims.

Accordingly, if we do not achieve a breakthrough on Thursday, then a ballot for industrial action and action short of a strike in the Ministry of Defence will commence on Monday 19th November until 5th December. Further details will be announced on our website on Friday.

Our union recently hosted a successful summit meeting of all defence trade unions which secured wider support for our Fair Deal objectives and a commitment to develop a joint bargaining agenda on issues of common concern framed around those objectives. Our sister union Unite will shortly be holding a consultative ballot in support of our campaign. 

This growing consensus gives us a real opportunity to co-ordinate the potential for joint campaigning and effective industrial action across the department in support of a Fair Deal.