THE POPULAR FRONT FOR THE LIBERATION OF CPSA
FIGHTING ON IN OUR 45th YEAR BUT A BIT RETIRED NOW
FREEDOM! UNITY! SOCIALISM!
ONE CIVIL SERVICE UNION,
ONE GLORIOUS DESTINY!
REVOLUTION UNTIL VICTORY!
The Press Release War continues 29/05/2002
1) FROM THE PCS WEBSITE
2) FROM JANICE AND MARK
3) WHAT THE PAPERS SAY - MIRROR AND GUARDIAN
Whitehall Union's Hard Left Back Off High Court Injunction
28 May
The High Court action brought yesterday [28 May] against the largest civil service union, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), has been stalled for at least a week. Mark Serwotka, who brought the case, is delaying proceedings as he seeks more time to prepare his case.
Moderate general secretary Barry Reamsbottom said, "Huge cracks have already begun to appear in the case against the union. Yesterday I was served with over 500 pages of legal documents prior to being summoned to the High Court tomorrow. Having read them all I am not surprised they are in disarray and their case is now clearly in shreds. They have even gone as far to offer a compromise agreement.
"I urge Mark Serwotka and his Socialist Alliance supporters, including PCS president Janice Godrich, to now drop their case against the union and accept the democratic will of the PCS membership who returned a clear Moderate majority in last month's National Executive Committee (NEC) elections.
"I would remind Mark that the NEC also agreed last Thursday [23 May] that I should discuss his future with him and offer him a full time officer position, if that is what he wants. I remain ready to do this whenever he wishes but he must first drop this pointless and damaging legal action against his own union."
PRESS RELEASE
28 May 2002
For immediate release
From: JANICE GODRICH, PCS President and
MARK SERWOTKA, PCS General Secretary elect
PCS GENERAL SECRETARY - THE COURTS TO DECIDE
WE ARE ASKING THE COURTS TO DECIDE . . . . . BUT WE BELIEVE THE MEMBERS HAVE
ALREADY SPOKEN
"We are asking the courts to decide who is the lawful General Secretary of PCS
from 1 June, but we believe the members of PCS have already spoken - lawfully
and democratically. Mark Serwotka is the General Secretary of PCS from 1 June
2002."
In legal proceedings to be issued tomorrow on behalf of the PCS by Mark
Serwotka (General Secretary elect) and Janice Godrich (President), the High
Court will be asked to determine who is the lawful General Secretary of the
PCS. The case will be heard at the earliest opportunity.
The court will be asked to decide that:
- It is not lawful for Barry Reamsbottom to remain in office as General Secretary after 31 May.
- The election of Mark Serwotka as General Secretary of PCS was lawful.
- The agreement between PCS and Barry Reamsbottom that he should leave on 31
May and that Mark Serwotka should take over all duties as of 1 June is
lawful and valid.
In addition, it is to be put to the court that it is contrary to the law,
specifically s.46 TULR(C)A 1992, for Barry Reamsbottom to remain in office as
General Secretary after 31 May as it will be 5 years since he was last
elected. [This election was held in May 1997 and it was to become the
General Secretary of CPSA.]
Barry Reamsbottom has never stood for or been subject to an election of PCS
members. His attempt to steal the post is against not only the law of the land
and the rules of the union, but contrary to all principles of fairness and
democracy.
We are taking this action not against but on behalf of PCS, its members and
rules. Over 300 branches have already sent in letters of support. We are
confident that the High Court will uphold the members' rights and decisions.
It is their union, not Barry's.
We have offered to allow the courts to resolve this on a joint basis in the
interests of the union, but this has not been accepted. We did this because
the reputation and efficient running of the union is being undermined by the
current situation. Staff are being placed in an intolerable position and under
unreasonable pressure.
We call on Barry, even at this late stage, to respect the democratic decisions
the PCS has taken and to go on 31 May. If he refuses to do so, Mark Serwotka
will take office as General Secretary on 1 June.
DAILY MIRROR
'BOSSES IN BATTLE TO CONTROL UNION
By Clinton Manning
TWO union leaders will go to the High Court tomorrow in their fight for control of one of Britain's most powerful unions. Elected Mark Serwotka expected to take over as general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union this week.
But Barry Reamsbottom, who had agreed to quit the post two years early with a £120,000 payoff and full pension, refused to leave. He plans to keep the job until April 2004.
He claims the election was unlawful because it took place 18 months before he was to retire. Former Benefit Agency worker Mr Serwotka, who has been running the union for months, served a writ.
He said: "It is unbelieveable. He did not stand in the election. I won it fair and square. He signed a legal agreement to go."
But Mr Reamsbottom hit back. "I won't be cowed into backing off from defending the union against this legal onslaught," he said. Tony Blair has been asked to intervene in the row. Industrial action has been threatened at the civil service union's HQ in London'
________________________________________________
GUARDIAN
COMMENT : Hard to say goodbye
Barry Reamsbottom has an amazing proposition for his union members.
It is that he, who has never stood for election as general secretary,
should - without another election - replace Mark Serwotka, who was
elected general secretary by a handsome majority. It sounds like a
grim satire on Stalin's Russia, but the real story is even more
ridiculous.
In 1998, the two largest trade unions in the civil service came
together to form the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), the
eighth biggest union in the country with 288,000 members. Barry
Reamsbottom was then general secretary of one of them, the CPSA. He
ran the merged union while arrangements were made to find a
successor. He was keen to hold on to office for two years until he
reached the union's agreed age for retirement, 55. But his executive
recommended a ballot.
This recommendation was put to a postal ballot of the entire
membership. On a high poll, the ballot recommendation was supported
by 62,296 to 2,766: a result even Mr Reamsbottom could see was
decisive. A ballot was inevitable, and an election was set in motion.
Mr Reamsbottom did not stand in it. On October 19 2000, he signed an
agreement with the union. In it he agreed to "work with the
successful candidate in the election" and give up his office on May
31 2002.
Soon afterwards there was a ballot to choose a new general secretary.
Mark Serwotka, a relatively unknown rank-and-file civil servant,
wrote in his election address: "I am a socialist, and I offer a
radical change in the election - for a membership-led union which
champions the interests of its members." His opponent was a full-time
officer of the union, Hugh Lanning. There was a high poll, and the
result, announced on December 6 2000, was: Serwotka 40,740, Lanning
33,942.
In the 18 months since then, the membership of the PCS has grown by
27,000. For all of last year and most of this, Serwotka and
Reamsbottom shared the duties of general secretary. It seemed that
everyone in the union, including Hugh Lanning, accepted the result of
the general secretary election. Then, in April, there were fresh
elections for the 46 members of the union executive. On lower polls
than for the national officers (and much smaller majorities) a new
executive was elected.
The right wing majority on the new executive was 24-22.
At once the subtle mind of Barry Reamsbottom began to change. As the
date on which he had agreed to leave office grew nearer, he wondered
whether, with a new executive, he could ignore the clear result of
the election for general secretary and cling to office himself. He
went to see an employment lawyer, Alan Pardoe QC, who gave him
an "opinion" that the agreement he had signed in October 2000
was "null and void" - and so was the election won by Mark Serwotka.
This opinion is not based in any way on the suggestion that the
ballot for general secretary was wrongly conducted, or the results
concocted. No one has ever suggested such a thing. The opinion is
based on a rather abstruse interpretation of the rules at the time
the unions merged. As a result, Mr Reamsbottom announced to PCS
members that he (not elected) would be carrying on as general
secretary and that Mark Serwotka (elected) was out.
Despite its endorsement by the new executive, at a meeting so rowdy
that no one could hear what was going on, the Reamsbottom edict has
not been widely applauded in the union. Nothing annoys people more
than arbitrary contempt from on high for carefully recorded votes in
an election. A storm of protest has engulfed the union. Most of the
workers at PCS head office are still taking orders from Mark
Serwotka, and both sides go to court this week.
It seems beyond belief that the bizarre behaviour of Mr Reamsbottom
could be endorsed by any democrat. But what is this, in the Sun
newspaper of May 24 under the sensitive headline: "Union lefties
KO'd"? "Tony Blair was said to be delighted when the news [of the
Reamsbottom coup] reached Downing Street."
I asked the prime minister's office: 1. Did anyone in the office or
representing the prime minister say anything to the Sun to suggest
that he was delighted with the news from the PCS? Answer: "No, not
that I am aware."
2. Was Mr Blair in fact "delighted" by the news from the PCS?
Answer: "This is entirely a matter for the union."
Is the Sun lying? Or maybe the prime minister, at least secretly,
rejoices when he hears that an elected leftwing trade union leader
has been toppled in a coup by an unelected rightwing one. Either
alternative is, I suppose, possible, if not likely.
Paul Foot
The Guardian
29 May 2002