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The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) is the eighth largest trade union in the United Kingdom.[2] Most of its members work in UK government departments and other public bodies.

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[3] 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.[4]

In 2018, the union won £3 million in damages from the Department for Work and Pensions,[5] 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.[6]

Membership and organisation

PCS is the largest trade union representing civil servants in the UK. As of May 2026, the Union had 169,864 members.[7] Between 2014 and 2015, the UK Government imposed a ban on PCS members paying for their membership via the ‘check off’ system which allows unions to collect membership dues via payroll, rather than requiring members to manually arrange payments.[8] This had a significant impact on the finances of PCS and on total membership numbers as many memberships lapsed when individuals failed to manually set up alternative means of payment. In 2024, PCS won a landmark case in the Supreme Court where the justices unanimously agreed that the UK Government acted unlawfully. PCS General Secretary, Fran Heathcote, characterised the UK Government actions as an attempt to ‘break civil service trade unionism’.[9]

PCS membership since 2012
Year Members
2012
 
 262,819[10]
2013
 
 247,345[11]
2014
 
 231,323[12]
2015
 
 195,091[13]
2016
 
 185,785[14]
2017
 
 181,063[15]
2018
 
 180,646[16]
2019
 
 177,540[17]
2020
 
 177,103[18]
2021
 
 183,442[19]
2022
 
 191,289[20]
2023
 
 189,399[21]
2024
 
 174,134[22]
2025
 
 169,420[23]
2026
 
 169,864[24]

Organisation

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

Factions

Multiple factions compete in internal elections. During contests for positions on the National Executive Committee, PCS’ governing body, factions regularly campaign under combined electoral slates known as ‘alliances’. In the 2025 and 2026 NEC elections these were the ‘Democracy Alliance’, which is led by the PCS Left Unity faction, and the ‘Coalition for Change’, which is formed through an electoral pact between the PCS Independent Left and PCS Broad Left Network factions respectively.[25][26][27]

Elections

2026 President Election

In March 2026, the Coalition for Change, announced that Bev Laidlaw would be their candidate in the 2026 election for president challenging the incumbent, Martin Cavanagh.[28] During the election campaign, Laidlaw criticised Cavanagh’s use of presidential rulings and pledged to improve the transparency and accountability of the president if she won.[29] Democracy Alliance candidate, Cavanagh, pledged to work more closely with the General Secretary and accused the Coalition for Change candidates for ignoring members when they previously resisted attempts to refund strike levy payments.[30] The ballot closed at noon on the 8 May 2026, where Laidlaw won the presidency from Cavanagh by 234 votes. Candidates aligned with Laidlaw and the Coalition for Change programme secured a majority of 21 out of 35 seats on the NEC.[31]

2026 Election of the President[7]
Candidate Branch Nominations[32] Votes % Result
Bev Laidlaw 57 5,455
50% Elected
Martin Cavanagh 56 5,221
47.8% Not Elected
Invalid votes 236
2.2% N/A
Turnout 10,912 6.4% N/A

2023 General Secretary Election and Assistant General Secretary Election

In May 2023, Mark Serwotka announced his decision not to seek re-election following a heart transplant. For the first time in the union’s history, the next General Secretary was guaranteed to be a woman as the two confirmed candidates were both female. Fran Heathcote, the then incumbent PCS President, stood against Marion Lloyd, the PCS Group President within the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Heathcote represented the PCS Left Unity faction while Lloyd represented the PCS Broad Left Network faction.[6][33] During the campaign, Marion Lloyd and John Moloney both pledged not to accept the salaries offered by PCS for the roles of General Secretary and Assistant General Secretary if they won, instead publicly pledging to remain on their current wage and pay the rest back to the PCS fighting fund.[34] Fran Heathcote and Paul O’Connor emphasised their record as the existing PCS President and as a senior full time employee of PCS respectively.[35] The ballot closed at noon on the 14 December 2023, and counting was done independently by Civica Election Services. Fran Heathcote was elected as General Secretary and John Moloney was elected as Assistant General Secretary.

2023 Election of General Secretary[35]
Candidate Branch Nominations[34] Votes % Result
Fran Heathcote 90 10,340
51.6% Elected[6]
Marion Lloyd 80 9,557
47.6% Not Elected
Invalid votes 161
0.8% N/A
Turnout 20,058 11.5% N/A
2023 Election of Assistant General Secretary[35]
Candidate Branch Nominations[34] Votes % Result
John Moloney 87 11,705
58.4% Elected[6]
Paul O’Connor 84 8,152
40.6% Not Elected
Invalid votes 201
1% N/A
Turnout 20,058 11.5% N/A

PCS Credit Union

PCS Credit Union Limited is a savings and loans co-operative established by the trade union for its members in 2011.[36] It is a member of the Association of British Credit Unions Limited,[37] 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.[38]

PCS Parliamentary Group

The PCS Parliamentary Group is a cross-party group of MPs who meet throughout the year to discuss issues and campaigns which PCS highlight, and concerns within the civil service broadly. The group makes parliamentary interventions, including writing to ministers, speaking at committee and participating in debates on behalf of PCS. The group is chaired by Labour MP John McDonnell[39][40], and is also attended by Jeremy Corbyn, Carla Denyer, Graham Leadbitter, and Liz Saville Roberts.[41][42] PCS makes financial contributions to John McDonnell for his work administrating the group, in 2025-2026 this amounted to £36,000.[39] John McDonnell was chosen to address the PCS 2026 Annual Delegate Conference as a guest speaker in his role as the PCS Parliamentary Group Chair.[43][44]

Affiliations

Organisations to which PCS is affiliated include Abortion Rights,[45] Amnesty International and the Cuba Solidarity Campaign.[46]

Strikes and protests involving PCS members

2008

2010

PCS members on strike in 2010.
  • On 8 March 2010, 270,000 civil servants began a 48-hour strike over government changes to redundancy payments.[48]

2011

  • The union voted for a one-day strike on 30 June 2011.[49]

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.[50] 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,[51] 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.[52]

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.[53]

2015

2016

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.[61][62]

2019

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.[68] A further 300 redundancies were also announced at Southbank Centre, leading to mass protests by PCS members outside the venues.[69]

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.[70]

Leadership

General Secretaries

1998: John Sheldon and Barry Reamsbottom
2000: Mark Serwotka
2024: Fran Heathcote[71]

Assistant General Secretaries

2000: Hugh Lanning
2004: Chris Baugh and Hugh Lanning
2013: Chris Baugh[72]
2019: John Moloney[73][71]

Presidents

1998: Peter Donnellan
2002: Janice Godrich
2019: Fran Heathcote
2024: Martin Cavanagh
2026: Bev Laidlaw

National Executive Committee (NEC)

Footnotes

See also

References

  1. ^ “PCS 2026 NEC Election Result”. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  2. ^ “About PCS”. Public and Commercial Services Union Website. Archived from the original on 6 July 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  3. ^ Daniels, Gary; McIlroy, John, eds. (2009), “Trade Unions in a Neoliberal World”, Routledge Research in Employment Relations Series, vol. 20, Taylor & Francis, p. 154, ISBN 9780415426633{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
  4. ^ “Mark Serwotka re-elected”. PCS News centre. 17 December 2009. Archived from the original on 14 January 2010. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  5. ^ “PCS union wins £3m payout from DWP in check-off victory | Civil Service World”. www.civilserviceworld.com. Archived from the original on 17 October 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2019.
  6. ^ a b c d “Civil service’s biggest union names first female general secretary”. 15 December 2023.
  7. ^ a b “PCS 2026 NEC Election Results”. pcs.org.uk. 8 May 2026. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  8. ^ Solicitors, Thompsons (20 November 2024). “Supreme Court Backs Union Rights in Check-Off Payroll Dispute with Government Departments”. Thompsons Solicitors. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  9. ^ “Check-off victory in Supreme Court is a warning to this and future governments”. Civil Service World. 26 November 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  10. ^ Annual Return for a Trade Union — PCS — 2012 (PDF) (Report). Trades Union Certification Officer. 31 December 2012. p. 2.
  11. ^ Annual Return for a Trade Union — PCS — 2013 (PDF) (Report). Trades Union Certification Officer. 31 December 2013. p. 2.
  12. ^ Annual Return for a Trade Union — PCS — 2014 (PDF) (Report). Trades Union Certification Officer. 31 December 2014. p. 2.
  13. ^ Annual Return for a Trade Union — PCS — 2015 (PDF) (Report). Trades Union Certification Officer. 31 December 2015. p. 2.
  14. ^ Annual Return for a Trade Union — PCS — 2016 (PDF) (Report). Trades Union Certification Officer. 31 December 2016. p. 2.
  15. ^ Annual Return for a Trade Union — PCS — 2017 (PDF) (Report). Trades Union Certification Officer. 31 December 2017. p. 2.
  16. ^ Annual Return for a Trade Union — PCS — 2018 (PDF) (Report). Trades Union Certification Officer. 31 December 2018. p. 2.
  17. ^ Annual Return for a Trade Union — PCS — 2019 (PDF) (Report). Trades Union Certification Officer. 31 December 2019. p. 2.
  18. ^ Annual Return for a Trade Union — PCS — 2020 (PDF) (Report). Trades Union Certification Officer. 31 December 2020. p. 2.
  19. ^ Annual Return for a Trade Union — PCS — 2021 (PDF) (Report). Trades Union Certification Officer. 31 December 2021. p. 2.
  20. ^ Annual Return for a Trade Union — PCS — 2022 (PDF) (Report). Trades Union Certification Officer. 31 December 2022. p. 2.
  21. ^ Annual Return for a Trade Union — PCS — 2023 (PDF) (Report). Trades Union Certification Officer. 31 December 2023. p. 2.
  22. ^ NEC Election Results — PCS — 2024 (Report). Civica Election Services. 9 May 2024. p. 1.
  23. ^ NEC Election Results — PCS — 2025 (Report). Civica Election Services. 9 May 2025. p. 1.
  24. ^ NEC Election Results — PCS — 2026 (Report). Civica Election Services. 8 May 2025. p. 1.
  25. ^ “PCS NEC 2026 – Coalition for Change Joint Programme”. PCS Independent Left. 2 February 2026. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  26. ^ “NEC Elections 2026”. PCS Broad Left Network. 5 February 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  27. ^ “Meet the Democracy Alliance NEC candidates 2026”. PCS Left Unity. 24 March 2026. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  28. ^ “PCS NEC 2026 – Coalition for Change Candidates”. PCS Independent Left. 5 March 2026. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  29. ^ “PCS NEC 2026 – Coalition for Change Joint Programme”. PCS Independent Left. 2 February 2026. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  30. ^ “Martin Cavanagh for PCS President 2026”. PCS Left Unity. 5 April 2026. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  31. ^ Best, Mark (13 May 2026). “Big win for left in PCS leadership elections – Socialist Party”. Socialist Party. Archived from the original on 16 May 2026. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  32. ^ “2026 Election National Executive Committee Election Addresses”. Retrieved 9 June 2026.
  33. ^ “Rebuild the PCS National Campaign – elect Marion Lloyd as PCS General Secretary”. bln.org.uk. 25 July 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  34. ^ a b c “PCS 2023 General Secretary and Assistant General Secretary Election Addresses”. pcs.org.uk. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  35. ^ a b c “PCS General Secretary and Assistant General Secretary Elections 2023”. pcs.org.uk. 14 December 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  36. ^ PCS Credit Union Archived 6 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine Public and Commercial Services Union (retrieved 21 February 2015)
  37. ^ Credit unions in membership of ABCUL Archived 3 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine Association of British Credit Unions (retrieved 1 November 2014)
  38. ^ Credit Union Guide Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine Financial Services Compensation Scheme (retrieved 2 April 2015)
  39. ^ a b “Register of Interests for John McDonnell – MPs and Lords – UK Parliament”. members.parliament.uk. Retrieved 8 June 2026.
  40. ^ “MPs ‘hammering’ government on behalf of PCS members | Public and Commercial Services Union”. www.pcs.org.uk. 10 November 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2026.
  41. ^ “PCS in parliament | Public and Commercial Services Union”. www.pcs.org.uk. Retrieved 8 June 2026.
  42. ^ “PCS Parliamentary Group Report 2025”. 5 June 2025. Retrieved 8 June 2026.
  43. ^ P C S (28 May 2026). Interview with PCS Parliamentary Group Chair John McDonnell at PCS ADC 2026. Retrieved 8 June 2026 – via YouTube.
  44. ^ “News from the NEC – April 2026 | Public and Commercial Services Union”. www.pcs.org.uk. 10 November 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2026.
  45. ^ “Abortion Rights: PCS Public-Sector Workers Reject Demands To End Affiliation To Progressive Rights Group”. 23 May 2014. Archived from the original on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  46. ^ Mark, Serwoka (2014). “PCS Annual financial report”. PCS. Archived from the original on 19 June 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  47. ^ “Museum staff go on strike in pay dispute”. Reuters. 13 June 2008. Retrieved 19 March 2019.[dead link]
  48. ^ “270,000 civil servants join 48-hour strike”. BBC. 8 March 2010. Archived from the original on 16 March 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
  49. ^ McSmith, Andy; Morris, Nigel (16 June 2011). “Britain walks out: UK braced for biggest wave of strikes since the 1980s”. The Independent. Archived from the original on 17 June 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  50. ^ “Metropolitan Police civilian Staff on New Year’s Eve strike”. BBC News. 31 December 2013. Archived from the original on 14 February 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  51. ^ “PCS union picks Budget Day for start of strike”. BBC News. 6 March 2013. Archived from the original on 19 June 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  52. ^ Waddington, Marc (29 May 2013). “Liverpool museum staff to walk out in Government cuts protest”. liverpoolecho. Archived from the original on 28 January 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  53. ^ “PCS union to join 10 July public sector strike”. BBC News. 1 July 2014. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  54. ^ Gayle, Damien (11 August 2015). “National Gallery staff strike shuts down most exhibitions”. The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  55. ^ “National Gallery strike ended as deal agreed, union says”. BBC News. 2 October 2015. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  56. ^ “National Museum Wales staff back strikes over proposed pay cut”. BBC. Wales. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  57. ^ “Queen’s Windsor Castle staff vote for industrial action”. BBC News. 15 April 2015. Archived from the original on 2 December 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  58. ^ “National Museum of Scotland hit by strike action”. BBC News. Scotland. 27 December 2015. Archived from the original on 7 May 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  59. ^ “National Museum of Scotland weekend pay dispute resolved”. BBC News. 15 April 2016. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  60. ^ Lawrence, Felicity (28 July 2016). “HMRC cleaners striking over pay: ‘They’ve treated us appallingly’“. The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 7 August 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  61. ^ “DVSA workers set to strike in dispute over new driving test”. Public and Commercial Services Union. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  62. ^ “Driving examiners to strike on test day”. BBC News. 15 November 2017. Archived from the original on 30 September 2018. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  63. ^ “Why the Beefeaters at the Tower of London are on strike”. The Independent. 7 January 2019. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  64. ^ Davies, Caroline (21 December 2018). “Beefeaters at Tower of London strike for first time in 55 years”. The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  65. ^ Syal, Rajeev (17 December 2018). “BEIS faces strike over low pay for outsourced service workers”. The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  66. ^ Bowcott, Owen (10 January 2019). “Ministry of Justice workers to stage two-day strike over pay”. The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  67. ^ “‘Xavier Bray, end low pay!’: Wallace Collection staff fight for London Living Wage”. www.theartnewspaper.com. 5 December 2019. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  68. ^ “Tate strike suspended as ‘improved offer’ is finalised”. Museums Association. 7 October 2020. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  69. ^ Speare-Cole, Rebecca (1 August 2020). “Crowds protest against National Theatre and Southbank Centre job cuts”. www.standard.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  70. ^ Lewis, Ffion (2 June 2021). “Hundreds of DVLA workers on strike due to Covid safety fears”. WalesOnline. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  71. ^ a b “Fran Heathcote elected to be first woman PCS general secretary | Public and Commercial Services Union”. www.pcs.org.uk. 10 November 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  72. ^ “PCS setback for the left”. Socialism Today. June 2019. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  73. ^ “How we are run”. PCS. Archived from the original on 6 October 2022. Retrieved 6 October 2022.