The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) will take legal action against the Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles for breach of its members' contracts over the way union subscriptions are collected. Mr Pickles' Department for Communities and Local Government announced unilaterally last week that it will end a decades-old system for collecting monthly subs through salaries – a major change, done with no consultation and only a few weeks' notice.
The communities secretary has previously advised local councils to end what is known as 'check-off' but is the first cabinet minister to attempt to apply it in the civil service. But the union announces today that it will launch legal proceedings over what amounts to a breach of contract, adding it believes there are strong grounds for applying for an injunction.
The union has been campaigning against cuts in the department, including a 60% cut in staff since 2010, and held a protest today at 12.30pm outside the DLCG headquarters. Morale in Pickles' department is rock bottom – DCLG was 93rd out of 97 civil service departments for staff engagement in the 2012 staff survey.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "Eric Pickles' latest attempt to undermine our union in his department is unnecessary and wholly politically-motivated. Hopefully he will now see sense and not waste any taxpayers' money trying to defend a legal case that we believe is cut and dried."
