The proposed changes include an end to the weekend working allowance.  A number of our members are lone parents already finding it a real struggle to survive.  Members rely on this allowance and are squeezed to the financial limit. Many of our members are already having to claim benefits in order to survive.

EH are also planning to introduce two types of pay range – standard and premium, as well as  site hierarchy, market rates and performance related bonuses.  How ironic that our members at Stonehenge are being forced to accept such prehistoric pay structures.

The pay proposals are set out in unnecessarily complicated terms, designed to confuse and divide the workforce. The carrot and stick approach of a £500 (taxable) one-off payment has done little to sweeten this contemptuous offer, a nasty little chocolate covered razorblade of a bribe. And our members are angry. How dare EH think they can buy us off in this way!

In typically divisive style, the bosses at EH plan to take from the poor and give to the rich, by offering senior staff more.  The only way they can do this, is to cut the pay of our members on lower grades. 

 English Heritage CEO Simon Thurley recently treated friends to a meal at the Groucho Club, at a cost of nearly a thousand pounds. He and his former model wife, also a director of EH,  are renowned for their extravagant tastes.  They were behind the recent £3.5 million installation of a temporary Elizabethan Garden at Kenilworth, an inaccurate replication which was widely derided from all sides.

Ways you can help

·         Sign our petition, link below

·         Write to your MP

·         Send back your English Heritage membership card, with a note expressing your disgust at their treatment of EH staff

·         Help us distribute leaflets in your region

·         Spread the word to colleagues, family and friends

For further information, please get in touch: lizzie@pcs.org.uk

Link to petition: http://e-activist.com/ea-campaign/clientcampaign.do?ea.client.id=103&ea.campaign.id=3778 

Paul Nowak spoke on the necessity of utilising the arts, and working with the art movement, to facilitate our growth. Last year, Liverpool was given the status European Capital of Culture, and he took us through some of the key factors surrounding this, including raising the profile of unions among the arts world; providing a platform for working communities, and engaging with the ever-changing face of the workplace today. They did this via online photography competitions, under the banner ‘the demon work’; and book readings, featuring celebrities and politicians. They also held a ‘radical walk’ guided tour, and sponsored theatre and music performances.

Martin Brown, Deputy General Secretary of actors’ union Equity, provided a really good insight into the state of television in this country today, and the detrimental consequences this has had on our actors. With ITV in freefall, and the BBC left to carry the can, there are too many commercial channels in the UK, leaving precious little room, or funding, for UK drama.

 Acting is a notoriously perilous and insecure industry, not to mention a highly difficult career to get in to, and so the consequences of this dumbing down will only increase pressure on some of our most talented actors, many already forced out of acting due to acute financial pressures.  

It is a sad indicator of our times that a classically trained actor can expect to earn little more than minimum wage (often, as is the case with many PCS Culture sector members, having to rely on income from low paid jobs in order to facilitate their careers).

With the recent trend in reality tv shows and the proclaimation  that, ANYONE can be an actor/singer (well, of course we can!), things are only set to get worse.  Martin raised the success of commercial theatre, now in it’s 5th record year, and compared this with the situation surrounding local theatre, which is in crisis.  He emphasised the importance of the arts in allowing us to ‘tell our own stories, in our own ways’. Lamentably, it seems, the collapse in production is now so steep, we are back to pre ‘97.

As a former artist myself, I ask, where have we gone wrong? For me, it has, and always will be, a class issue. There is a real polarisation within the arts world – the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ . This has always been the case. The priviledged classes have always had the luxury of being able to indulge their artistic endeavours, not having to worry about paying the next bill. Yet, some of the greatest art that has ever been has been borne off the back of struggle. To (very badly and with more than a touch of creative license) paraphrase a well-known philosopher: “how many potentially great artists are slogging around the clock in a fast food restaurant? And vice-versa (see, told you. But you get my drift).

Case in point. A couple of years ago I was invited to an art opening at a Bond Street Gallery. The artist in question, an old Etonian, had, not to put too mild a point on it, all the artistic expertise of a doughnut. Yet he had studied at the Sorbonne. He had a wealthy father who indulged his son’s artistic ambitions every step of the way.

So I found myself there,  avoiding the lecherous gropes of the Marquis of Bath and other over privileged ingrates. The whole scenario left me fuming. Just a week before, I had witnessed a young black youth, a passionate artist, stopped and searched by the police in my neighbourhood. This kid was one of the best rappers I have heard, yet he was subjected to this dehumanising assault. The old Etonian, a completely talentless twerp, if I may be so bold, is probably to this day, snorting coke and god knows what else, funded by the many thousands his work continues to command.

It is completely crazy that during these particularly difficult times, where kids need an outlet for their creativity more than ever before, music venues are being shut down, funding to community groups severely cut in some boroughs…and the only ‘hope’ you can get for entering any kind of music career, comes via Simon Cowell and his Carnival of Capitalism.  Yet, the need is there,  more now than ever before.

Megan Dobney gave a great presentation on the TUC’s participation in the arts and various networks thus far. It is not before time that Black History Month is now rightly called Black History Celebrations.

I don’t need to illustrate here just how much black culture has enriched our society, and continues to do so.  Megan also talked about Jarvis Trainer’s work with schools in the USA, LGBT History months, Jewish History film evening, the Womens History Tour, and the SERTUC film club, which found it’s genesis within the TUC’s Stephen Lawrence task group. 

Our comrades from T&G Unite provided us with a brilliant insight into the work they have been doing, particularly with migrant workers. To quote our sister: ’we organised the unorganised’ – and with massive success.  The T&G have harnessed the artistic talents of their migrant worker membership with great success. Proof  that we can bridge the gaps, not simply industrially, but creatively.   This is all great and positive news and gives scope to all sorts of possibilities to us within the trade union movement.

A delegate from BECTU highlighted the problems arising from raising union awareness within the generally disparate and transient artistic communities. This is something we really need to take heed from, although it is my feeling that, if we collectivise around universal issues such as pay, and have a strong and solid campaign strategy, we can ensure we reach out to all, even those in the most isolated of industries, painters for example.

Another point raised was ‘who is commissioning the commissions?’ (good question).

Due to erratic pay, many artists simply cannot afford to belong to trade unions. After all, you might get paid well one month, then not see anything else for a further six. How can one budget in these conditions? Also, organisations such as the Performing Rights Society, who protect live performance copyright, require an upfront sum of 100 pounds or more. Many musicians cannot afford this, and thus, it leaves them open to further exploitation and abuse.  Multi millionaire man-of-the-people Sting once loftily proclaimed that ‘music is its own reward’. Well, try saying that to the struggling street performer who is about to get kicked out of her/his home.

What would Picasso have said to this? He would have said ‘ action is the foundational key to all success’.

So, let’s do it! Looking forward to further forums on this – it is a multi-faceted area, and one which we as trade unionists should all get involved with. Without art, what is life? It shapes us, our presents, and our futures.

 I have been living in England since 1994. For the past four years I have worked in one of London’s major museums. Last year I trained as a Union Learning Representative of the PCS. My role is to provide information about learning to the employees of the museum. To its members, the trade union offers a lot of free of charge or discounted courses in computing, digital photography and language classes. Some of the courses provide work qualifications.

Since sitting on the union’s committee, I have learned a great deal about  employment law and have a real understanding about the disciplinary, absences, health and safety issues etc which are resolved in the workplace.

I have an opportunity to voice my opinions and influence decisions. It increases my standing in the eyes of my colleagues. I feel safe at work knowing that when facing a problem I will receive  advice and support of the union representatives and if necessary, the PCS lawyers.

Some Poles, who came to POSK that day, recently lost their jobs. They were very worried about their future. They probably secretly hoped to find a job there. Immediate return to Poland is not always possible. Back home there is a crisis too, unemployment figures much higher than in the UK. There are many redundancies in the factories and in the offices. In some parts of Poland there are no jobs all. The most moving experience for me was a meeting with a group of 5 men. The youngest of them could have been in his early twenties, the oldest, probably a relative, well past sixty. They work as cleaners in an  airport and are so appallingly treated by the young managers that they made a journey to POSK to seek help.

Looking at the older man I felt my heart break.

There is nothing wrong with emigrating in your old age to another country, even if you don’t know the language. There in nothing shameful about a cleaning job in your retirement age, if it is what is needed to survive.

But to be bullied by your twenty year old manager?

-         ‘Create a union branch in your workplace’, I said.

-         ‘Fill in the application papers tomorrow. You become a member of the

unions from the date of signing the form. From that date as well you become a part of a big organisation created to defend workers. This is the purpose of existence of a trade union.

* Jolanta’s article can be found in Polish on our website:www.pcs.org.uk/cmsoa

There has been a partial victory for thousands of Gurkhas. Following a cross-party backlash against Government proposals to allow settlement to only a minority of Gurkha veterans in the UK PCS culture sector members, including former Gurkhas and retired members attended a lobby of Parliament to protest against the Home Office’s decision to refuse settlement to a number of retired Gurkha soldiers.

Despite a High Court ruling last year, the government was still planning to press ahead with legislation which would have meant that only a small percentage of Gurkha veterans who retired from service before 1997, would have been granted rights to stay in the UK.

Many Gurkha veterans live in the UK, often working in low paid jobs. The PCS culture sector has a number of members who are Gurkha veterans.

Some, along with their families face the real possibility of being kicked out of the country which they have diligently served.

Thousands of Gurkhas have lost their lives or suffered severe disfigurement as a result of fighting in the British Army.

To quote one ex soldier: ‘Gurkhas are not seeking special treatment, just equal treatment’. One recent case highlights just how acute the situation has become.

A Gurkha serving in Iraq was severely injured. His wife flew to Iraq from Britain to be with him. On returning to the UK however she was denied entry.

Under the discharge bill, Gurkha veterans and their families would face a new war. A war with immigration officials and police, ordered to beat down their doors during dawn raids and deport many of these men and their families to Nepal.

Sharon Spinos, PCS branch secretary at the Victoria and Albert museum and Gurkha campaigner says:

“I currently represent a number of Gurkha veterans who work at the museum. I am also the daughter of a veteran serviceman, indeed, three generations of my family have had the honour to work alongside these brave men; men currently being treated so disgracefully by this Government.

“Nothing can justify the disgusting response to the dignified request of these steadfast men to reside in the country they have served so well and with such loyalty for so long.

“How can one of the world’s richest nations expect such sacrifice from one of the world’s poorest? No Gurkha should have to beg our country for anything, they deserve everything we can give, and earned it long ago. We have won small battles, but we have yet to win the war.”

Let’s hope that this parliamentary defeat will force the Government to see sense, and award settlement rights to all Gurkha veterans and their families.

We are now faced with the most challenging times since the 1930s. One only has to pick up a newspaper to see that this is a fact. One only has to cast a look down our high streets, work within our workplaces, and talk with our colleagues,neighbours and friends to confirm this.  At times of trouble, undoubtably people will, through desperation, seek to protect their interests. Where people find their interests threatened, they might well then, seek to apportion blame, to ’scapegoat’ as a means of making sense of the situation.

Never has there been more of a need for trade unionists to collectivise and Organise!

Our fourth block of Academy was extremely productive, and it is wonderful to see how we have all grown.  Our collective development is testimony to the calibre of our Director Liz, and of course,to the Academy programme as a whole. Recent debate around the Welfare Reform Bill takes me back to a time where I was a teenage single mother, and the reprehensible Peter Lilley speeches. That was a time where single mothers were scapegoated and it would seem, lamentably, that not much has changed! The proposals set out in this bill hit the poorest sections of society the hardest. Some PCS members working within the civil service ironically, find themselves forced to claim benefits to make ends meet!   Migrant workers, always at the brunt of scapegoating and discrimination, find themselves pillioried as a result of media and far right propaganda.  At a time of terrible recession and desperation, the working class find themselves pitted against each other and, suffice to say, this climate can  and does, sometimes bring out the worst in people.

Our fourth Academy block featured an incredibly relevant discussion  therefore, on migrant workers,and tackling the far right, delivered by our two comrades from the FBU and UCU, Paddy and Pete. They took us through a political training programme that they have set up, to raise awareness within the ranks of the FBU, and inspire a more pro-active approach from existing reps.  Our colleagues took a delegation of FBU reps to Krakow for this training module, part of which included a visit to the concentration camps. The training programme then went on to challenge pre-conceptions on prejudice, with positive results. Only through active discussion and debate can we really get to the crux of what are emotive, and at times, uncomfortable issues. Paddy and Pete have said that they are happy to share their experiences, and I would urge you to get in touch with them.

We were also joined by three fellow trade unionists from Finland, who gave us an insight into the system there, which was very interesting.   Over the rest of the week we discussed and shared Campaign strategies and  formulated Action plans; in groups we debated the pros and cons of the media; and, on the final day, Paul Nowak joined us for an exercise on Facility Agreements, around which we set up committees and reported back. A great, thought provoking end to an educational and inspiring week.

It is clear that the Organising model is the most effective way to build unions and develop activists. To anyone who might disagree, I point you to the words of Diogenes himself:   ‘Step aside, you’re blocking the sun’.

Saturday 07 February marked the beginning of a PCS culture sector recruitment drive, focusing on Polish workers. Polish culture sector members attended a cross-union recruitment event organised jointly by the TUC and BERR (Department of Business,Enterprise and Regulatory Reform), to highlight the benefits of union membership to Polish workers within the UK. Migrant workers are among the most exploited workers in this country.  Often on temporary contracts, they can  find themselves working as cleaners or security staff, without access to full employment rights and protection. One extreme example of this comes from Ben Sellers, Northern TUC: ‘a Polish cleaner was working a four hour shift in a factory,from 12am to 4am. She was locked in. When she asked how she could get out,she was told she would have to wait until 8am. When she complained, she was handed a sleeping bag and told she could ‘take the job or leave it’. Miriad issues affect Polish workers in the UK, from unlawful deduction of wages, to employment agencies putting incorrect hours on wage slips. Community groups are overburdened by issues surrounding employment law.

 Within PCS culture sector, we have a number of Polish workers.We hope that, through regular discussion and awareness, education and training, Polish workers are supported and encouraged to play an active role within our union.

During these particularly difficult times, workers who do not have English as their first language can find themselves bearing the brunt of exploitation and scapegoating. The issues affecting members across the board, can, therefore have far bigger ramifications on our most vulnerable members, and potential members. According to Robert Rusesky, of the Polish Consulate, ‘…following Poland’s inclusion in the EU in 2004,Polish workers have become a significant factor to local economies, due to their high efficiency and strong work ethic. They were willing to accept difficult challenges and working conditions.Due to the current climate,we need to prepare for hostility.We need to take some sort of action.’

It is crucial that PCS members work together to achieve results. Unfortunately, in this climate, the presence of agency workers can lead to workplace tension. Permanent staff can find themselves in competition with agency staff. Change across the board can only be brought through solidarity. Whilst agency workers find themselves increasingly marginalised, for example, exclusion from collective bargaining, it is imperative that we forge a strong and solid network to ensure that the best support is offered. The only way we can do this is through a solid campaign. Our aim now is to ensure we are accessible to Polish workers within our sector – through Polish language recruitment literature and a Polish language section on our website, which is currently in development. Our members are in the process of establishing a Polish members’ Network, which will exist not simply to raise awareness of PCS Culture Sector within the Polish community, but also to raise awareness of issues affecting Polish workers to members across our Union as a whole.

Never has there been such a crucial time in which to develop and build Migrant Workers’ Networks. Recent events at Lindsey oil refinery, where workers, justifiably angry due to high levels of unemployment, striked against the company’s policy of employing Portugese and Italian workers, rather than local workers, have been grossly distorted by the media to portray this action as ‘anti-migrant worker’. The far right have seized this opportunity to whip up hate and anger amongst small elements of these communities. We need to stand solid and united. An injury to one is an injury to all. We need to ensure the best possible conditions for all working people, everywhere. Involvement with projects such as the Migrant Workers’ Project, and others, is a small but signifigant step forward to achieving our shared goals. If you are organising around migrant workers, or it’s something you are interested in, please get in touch: lizzie@pcs.org.uk it would be good for us to share our experiences.

From the latest edition of PCS Activate, the magazine for activists within the Public and Commercial Services Union.

 PCS culture sector organiser Lizzie Woods reports on efforts to bring together activists working in retail in museums, palaces and galleries

  The economic crisis is being used by some employers as an excuse to shed jobs, attack terms and conditions and increase pressure on staff.

Chaired by CMSOA Group treasurer Reuben Smith, the meeting drew reps from the Tate shops, the National Gallery, the British Museum, and Historic Royal Palaces.

 The forum brings together activists from shops and box offices across the sector, and aims to develop a culture sector retail workers’ charter.

 This will encourage culture branches to work together to achieve shared goals, and develop activity and solidarity.

 Retail workers are among the lowest paid in PCS. With a lack of cohesion over pay and conditions and widely differing working patterns, they are often the most isolated and exploited too.

 It is common for workers to find themselves working bank holidays, yet they do not always receive overtime and are expected to carry out their duties as if it were any other day of the year.

 It is normal for supervisors to be running three shops at once due to lack of cover. The forum also noted with concern that employers are increasingly taking on agency staff rather than filling permanent posts.

 Bullying is all too commonplace, and pressure to hit targets means bonuses are crudely used to pit workers against each other.

 To help tackle these issues, key objectives in the charter will include:

• An anti-bullying policy
•  A dignity at work policy
• An end to indiscriminate use of agency staff Adoption of best practice in working hours and shift patterns
• Consolidated, inflation-proof pay increases
• An end to divisive, indiscriminate bonuses
•  Health and safety/stress at work policy

Only through actively collectivising and campaigning around issues will our retail workers win results and ensure fairness and equality for all.

For more about the campaign for a retail workers’ charter contact Lizzie Woods on lizzie@pcs.org.uk or 020 7801 2764

this article, and more, can be found at www.pcs.org.uk/activate   

I started my placement as an organiser within PCS’s  Culture division three weeks ago.  My ‘bedding in’ period has been as interesting as it has been varied, and I am enjoying every minute of it! So far, I have co-facilitated workshops; met with lay organisers and other activists; minuted the AGM of English Heritage members; observed meetings with personnel at the British museum; distributed at the British Library; worded leaflets and postcards for the National Campaign, and assisted with research. Member density is good in London, and some branches, particularly the Science museum, are very strong. Within the regions, slightly less, primarily due to the geographical locations of some of the remoter heritage sites.  In keeping with PCS’s strong organising strategy, there was a lay-organisers’ conference at Clapham Headquarters  a couple of weeks ago, which I attended. Turn out was good and the mood against the government’s proposed 2% pay ‘increase’ was tangible.  PCS’s general secretary Mark Serwotka, gave a rousing speech, and there were passionate contributions from the floor. Given the structure of the civil service, with many areas now outsourced to private companies, leading to disparities in pay and conditions, members are nevertheless united in their feeling that the government has, for wont of a better term ‘sold them down the river’. A short film on the plight of the transport workers’ strike in Argentina was shown, and there were workshops, including one on equalities and a young members workshop, which I co-facilitated.  At the Culture Division in Victoria, I have found the team to be extremely helpful and thoughtful when it comes to finding me areas of work.  I recently received my workplan and am happy to be working on a possible recognition agreement; a recruitment exercise within the Southbank; the CMSOA; English Heritage and, of course, the National Campaign, which I will touch on shortly.

  Pensions On Wednesday I attended the National Lobby on The State Pension rally in Westminster, co-ordinated by the NPC.  Mark Serwotka spoke, and there were  contributions by representatives from ASLEF, Community,NUJ and UCU, among others.  The issues raised were emotive and the overall mood was one of anger. Quite right! How can the government possibly say that £90.70 per week, well below the Official Poverty Level of £151pw,  is enough for ANYONE to live on, yet alone those who have worked hard all their lives, many of whom survived the war, and paid National Insurance contributions? Two thirds of pensioners living in poverty are women. Around 61% of pensioner couples have an annual income of £15,000 or less, whilst 45% of single pensioners have an annual income of £10,000 or less. These very same people now have to make the choice between fuel and food, be ‘poverty pensioners’, cowering at the sound of the letter box for fear of another bill they cannot pay. Where is the dignity, the respect, in that? Throw into the mix means-testing, a humiliating process that no-one should have to endure, least of all our retired workforce, and a surplus in the National Insurance Fund currently standing at £46bn. How the government can possibly justify not giving these citizens the money they deserve,  that is theirs BY RIGHT, yet spend billions on an illegal war and bailing out the banks, is an abhorrent disgrace. What WOULD the original pensions campaigners of 100 years ago say?  In a recent EU survey, only pensioners in Latvia, Spain and Cyprus are more likely to fall into poverty than those in the uk. And, even if the link between state pension and earnings is restored by 2012, 3million pensioners will have,by then already died.    As trade unionists, we need to collectively campaign around the issue of pensions. WE NEED TO ACT NOW.

Personally I think I echo everyone’s sentiments here when I say that it is something of a dream to find oneself getting paid to do something you totally believe in, and used to do voluntarily. What an honour!  I feel particularly privileged to be working within the Culture division at PCS, coming from an arts and entertainment background. The arts continue to be a real passion of mine and I truly empathise with the members, many of whom are struggling artists themselves, having found myself working in poorly-paid jobs  for the bulk of my working life.

 National Campaign

PCS recently balloted members on industrial action, the ballot closed on 17th October, and members voted by a majority in support of national strike action and national action sort of a strike.The action is a reaction to the government’s paltry pay offer of 2%, well below the rate of inflation. As we all know, our society relies on civil servants’ hard labour to facilitate our daily lives. From issuing driving licenses and passports, to helping us find jobs, claim benefits…and save lives (as highlighted in the recent maritime workers’ dispute). Yet,in the same way that artists throughout the ages have found themselves in the grip of poverty, starvation and misery,now in the 21^st century, staff in the culture sector working in museums, sports councils, tourism, art galleries, the British Library and heritage sites find themselves faced with a similar fate!

Staff work long, anti-social hours, often with little respite, yet they carry out their work diligently. They are passionate about the services they provide, and the art they protect yet, some staff working in London are not earning the London living wage of £7.45 per hour, instead many exist on little over the National Minimum wage, £5.73. Staff are faced with cutbacks and worsening of conditions due to government proposals and increased privatisation. Proposals and in some cases implementation of regional pay will continue to cause members real hardship – bread and petrol cost the same wherever you live.

Aside from anything else, a demoralised workforce and fewer staff will impact on all of our long term enjoyment of museums and galleries.

It is for these reasons,and many more, that PCS members voted Yes to industrial action. The government can continue to justify capping civil servants’ pay to a meagre 2%, yet it recently bailed out the banks to the tune of £30 billion with public funds – how insulting!  How absurd.  As we are all now officially ‘bankers’, it surely will not break the bank for the government to allow us access to our money. Afterall, there is clearly enough there! Despite what they might like us to believe.

If PCS members agree to the government’s pay cut, because with inflation currently standing at 5.4%, that is precisely what it is, the government will be under no obligation to bargain  for the next three years. Simply put, PCS members CAN NOT AFFORD NOT to take action. Whilst no-one likes to strike, members are faced with no alternative. Members’ demands are simple: an inflation proof rise for all staff, and action on pay disparities and pay progression.

At the time of writing, I am uncertain what dates the action will take place, however, I hope to update regularly on here,  and will keep you posted.