CPSA go for £12

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THE NATIONAL Executive Committee of the Civil and tion has called for a £12 per week increase as the claim for 1982.

Though the evidence from the CPSA Research Department strongly argued in favour of a {15 claim, most union activists will welcome this flat-rate claim, which if won would clearly benefit the lowest-paid workers.

CPSA has always gone in the past for a percentage increase (though sometimes with an underpinning minimum), which serves only to widen the pay gap between the various Civil Service grades.

However, there are still many worrying aspects about this claim, which cannot be overlooked. The first of these is the way in which the claim was formulated.

In the 1981 pay struggle, a special one day conference was called at which branch delegates were able to argue and vote on the recommendations. No such conference has been called to discuss the 1982 claim, and the union has reverted to the traditional method of having the Executive Committee determine it.

Even more disturbing is the fact that, at the time of writing, there has been no circular issued to CPSA members informing them of the NEC's decision -even though that decision was reached one and a half weeks ago. In fact, the first the members heard of it was when the Guardian announced it!

The reason for the delay is that the President and General Secretary are presently on the other side of the world, at a Public Services International congress in Singapore, and that an information bulletin will not be put out until these worthies return to put their signatures to it.

Also, the exact wording of the recommendation is a '£12 per week increase for all adult CPSA members' (my emphasis). This presumably means that workers not yet on the main pay scale le g. Clerical Officers aged 20 and below) are not covered by the £12 claim.

Finally, it must be remembered that this flat rate claim will first be put before the Couricil of Civil Service Unions (COCSU), meeting on Thursday December 4, and there are strong indications that a deal will be struck to create "united' percentage claim.

Militants in CPSA should bear in mind the flaws of the union's claim, but urge the NEC to start organising now to win it.

The real danger is the threat of going to arbitration, with argument geared up to convincing the arbitration tribunal of the civil service unions' case. The next step after arbitration is that the Tories will either accept the result, or put the issue to a Parliamentary vote.

In order to counter this, local CPSA branches should start organising now to prepare members for action. And this means building effective local links with other publie sector unions. Only that sort of unity, based on rank and file mobilisation, can win.