Public and Commercial Services Union

History

The union was founded in 1998 by the merger of the Public Services, Tax and Commerce Union (which mostly represented the executive grades of the Civil Service) and the Civil and Public Services Association (mostly representing the clerical grades). The General Secretaries of the two unions, John Sheldon and Barry Reamsbottom respectively, became Joint General Secretaries of the new union. In 2000, Mark Serwotka was elected General Secretary and held the position until his retirement on 31 January 2024: he was elected unopposed in 2005 (no other candidate received enough valid nominations from PCS branches); he was re-elected in 2009 for a five-year term, and in 2014 was re-elected for a further five years.

In 2018, the union won £3 million in damages from the Department for Work and Pensions, after a legal challenge against the withdrawal of the "check off" system of paying union subscriptions.

Fran Heathcote was elected as the union's first female General Secretary, defeating Marion Lloyd. She assumed the office on 1 February 2024.

Membership and organisation

PCS is the largest trade union representing civil servants in the UK. As of May 2025, the Union had 169,420 members (this figure excludes retired and associate members).{{cite web | title = PCS 2023 NEC Election Result | url = https://www.pcs.org.uk/electnec23/national-election-results-2023 | access-date = 8 November 2025}} This figure has fallen from 176,508 in 2023.

PCS is organised into groups that deal with different bargaining units such as Revenue and Customs, Work and Pensions and Law and Justice.

Two factions compete in elections to the National Executive Committee of the PCS, its governing body: the ruling Left Unity faction, which stands candidates as part of the Democracy Alliance, and an opposing Independent Left faction.

PCS Credit Union

PCS Credit Union Limited is a savings and loans co-operative established by the trade union for its members in 2011. It is a member of the Association of British Credit Unions Limited, authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the PRA. Members’ savings are protected against business failure by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Affiliations

Organisations to which PCS is affiliated include Abortion Rights, Amnesty International and the Cuba Solidarity Campaign.

Strikes and protests involving PCS members

2008

• In conjunction with Prospect, members at the Science Museum went on strike over pay.

2010

• On 8 March 2010, 270,000 civil servants began a 48-hour strike over government changes to redundancy payments.

2011

• The union voted for a one-day strike on 30 June 2011.

2013

• Strike action was organised for New Year's Eve 2013 for all Metropolitan Police Civil Staff due to a pay dispute. Taking strike action on this day was deemed to be most effective because of the busy nature of the day for police. The MPS offered a below inflation wage increase of 1%. Another strike ballot was announced on 6 February 2014 for strike action on 12 and 13 February 2014.
• As part of the union's budget day strikes, a series of protests took place across branches in the Culture Group, including Tate and National Museums Liverpool to highlight the effect of government cuts to arts funding.

2014

• PCS announced they would be joining a national strike alongside other unions on Budget Day - 10 July, over pay restraint and austerity in the public sector.

2015

• From 11 August 2015, PCS members at the National Gallery took indefinite strike action against a proposed privatisation of the security staff at the gallery. The strike lasted for more than 100 days.
• At the Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales branch, members voted for strike action after proposals to end their weekend pay premiums.
• Members of the Royal Household branch, including staff at Windsor Castle, voted for action short of a strike in an effort to achieve the Living Wage.
• Another of the union's Culture Group branches went on strike in December 2015 against the removal of weekend allowances. The dispute at the National Museum of Scotland branch was eventually ended when funding from the Scottish Government enabled a buy out of the allowances.

2016

• Cleaners in HMRC went on strike as their outsourced employer, ISS, claimed it couldn't afford the Government's new National Living Wage.

2017

• Strike action of Driving Examiners was organised for 4 and 5 December to coincide with the introduction of new driving tests in order to protest against the introduction of Satellite Navigation to the test on 4 December. Examiners also voted started work to rule on 23 November.

2019

• In conjunction with GMB, PCS members at Historic Royal Palaces took strike action against proposed changes to their pensions. This was the first time the Beefeaters had been on strike in 55 years.
• Outsourced workers at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) went on strike to demand the London Living Wage in a coordinated action with United Voices of the World (UVW) union members at the nearby Ministry of Justice.
• In December 2019, Security Guards and Front of House workers at Wallace Collection successfully protested outside an exhibition opening to secure the London Living Wage.

2020

• Following mass redundancies in the arts and culture sector caused by the COVID-19 lockdown, PCS members working for the commercial arm of Tate galleries in London took 42 days strike action against mass redundancies. A further 300 redundancies were also announced at Southbank Centre, leading to mass protests by PCS members outside the venues.

2021

• After a large, and in several cases fatal, COVID-19 outbreak in the offices of the Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), PCS members took multiple days of strike action in June and July to highlight the lack of adequate health and safety protection.

Leadership

General Secretaries

:1998: John Sheldon and Barry Reamsbottom :2000: Mark Serwotka :2024: Fran Heathcote

Assistant General Secretaries

:2000: Hugh Lanning :2004: Chris Baugh and Hugh Lanning :2013: Chris Baugh :2019: John Moloney

Presidents

:1998: Peter Donnellan :2002: Janice Godrich :2019: Fran Heathcote :2024: Martin Cavanagh

References

References

1. "PCS 2025 NEC Election Result".
2. "About PCS". Public and Commercial Services Union Website.
3. (2009). "Trade Unions in a Neoliberal World". Taylor & Francis.
4. (17 December 2009). "Mark Serwotka re-elected". PCS News centre.
5. "PCS union wins £3m payout from DWP in check-off victory {{!}} Civil Service World".
6. (15 December 2023). "Civil service's biggest union names first female general secretary".
7. "PCS 2025 NEC Election Result".
8. "leftunity.org.uk".
9. "PCS Independent Left".
10. [http://www.pcs.org.uk/en/about_pcs/pcs_credit_union/index.cfm PCS Credit Union] {{Webarchive. link. (6 February 2015 Public and Commercial Services Union (retrieved 21 February 2015))
11. [http://www.abcul.org/about/abcul-credit-unions Credit unions in membership of ABCUL] {{Webarchive. link. (3 January 2015 Association of British Credit Unions (retrieved 1 November 2014))
12. [http://www.fscs.org.uk/uploaded_files/Publications/Brochures/Credit_Union_Guide.pdf Credit Union Guide] {{Webarchive. link. (24 September 2015 Financial Services Compensation Scheme (retrieved 2 April 2015))
13. (23 May 2014). "Abortion Rights: PCS Public-Sector Workers Reject Demands To End Affiliation To Progressive Rights Group".
14. (2014). "PCS Annual financial report".
15. (2008-06-13). "Museum staff go on strike in pay dispute". Reuters.
16. (8 March 2010). "270,000 civil servants join 48-hour strike". BBC.
17. (16 June 2011). "Britain walks out: UK braced for biggest wave of strikes since the 1980s". The Independent.
18. (31 December 2013). "Metropolitan Police civilian Staff on New Year's Eve strike". BBC News.
19. (2013-03-06). "PCS union picks Budget Day for start of strike". BBC News.
20. Waddington, Marc. (2013-05-29). "Liverpool museum staff to walk out in Government cuts protest".
21. (2014-07-01). "PCS union to join 10 July public sector strike". BBC News.
22. Gayle, Damien. (2015-08-11). "National Gallery staff strike shuts down most exhibitions". The Guardian.
23. (2015-10-02). "National Gallery strike ended as deal agreed, union says". BBC News.
24. (2015-07-22). "National Museum Wales staff back strikes over proposed pay cut". BBC.
25. (2015-04-15). "Queen's Windsor Castle staff vote for industrial action". BBC News.
26. (2015-12-27). "National Museum of Scotland hit by strike action". BBC News.
27. (2016-04-15). "National Museum of Scotland weekend pay dispute resolved". BBC News.
28. Lawrence, Felicity. (2016-07-28). "HMRC cleaners striking over pay: 'They've treated us appallingly'". The Guardian.
29. "DVSA workers set to strike in dispute over new driving test". Public and Commercial Services Union.
30. (2017-11-15). "Driving examiners to strike on test day". BBC News.
31. (2019-01-07). "Why the Beefeaters at the Tower of London are on strike".
32. Davies, Caroline. (2018-12-21). "Beefeaters at Tower of London strike for first time in 55 years". The Guardian.
33. Syal, Rajeev. (2018-12-17). "BEIS faces strike over low pay for outsourced service workers". The Guardian.
34. Bowcott, Owen. (2019-01-10). "Ministry of Justice workers to stage two-day strike over pay". The Guardian.
35. (5 December 2019). "'Xavier Bray, end low pay!': Wallace Collection staff fight for London Living Wage".
36. (7 October 2020). "Tate strike suspended as 'improved offer' is finalised".
37. Speare-Cole, Rebecca. (2020-08-01). "Crowds protest against National Theatre and Southbank Centre job cuts".
38. Lewis, Ffion. (2021-06-02). "Hundreds of DVLA workers on strike due to Covid safety fears".
39. (2022-11-10). "Fran Heathcote elected to be first woman PCS general secretary {{!}} Public and Commercial Services Union".
40. (June 2019). "PCS setback for the left". Socialism Today.
41. "How we are run".