The
Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) has launched a ballot of no
confidence in senior management among its 95,000-plus members working in the
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The
ballot will run until 26 July and union members will be asked if they have
confidence in DWP’s senior management.
It
is part of an ongoing campaign in a long running dispute over bonus schemes and
pay.
Under
the DWP’s performance and development system, managers have to work to quotas,
whereby only a certain amount of staff can obtain top quality ratings,
regardless of the amount of workers who are top performers. The union maintains
that the scheme is unfair and divisive.
The
announcement of the ballot follows the news that benefits processing in
Jobcentre Plus centres will be cut from 650 sites to 100, and Pension Centres will
be cut from 29 to 10 as part of a four-year programme to slash the workforce by
30,000.
The
union also confirmed dates for a further two-day strike on 29 and 30 July if
there is no breakthrough over the imposition of a performance development
scheme (PDS) and low pay in talks in the coming weeks.
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Mark
Serwtoka, PCS general secretary, said the ballot was a chance for members to
voice their anger to senior management.
