Fran Heathcote will become the general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), the UK’s largest civil service union, succeeding Mark Serwotka.
Heathcote, the union’s president, will be its first female general secretary, with the news coinciding with the British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa) also announcing its first female general secretary.
Serwotka is retiring next month after more than 20 years in the post having been re-elected five times since 2000.
He said: “Having worked closely with her over the last four years, I’m confident the union will go from strength to strength under her leadership.”
Heathcote thanked Serwotka for all his “fantastic work” and said: “I was proud to be president of PCS during our successful campaign in 2023 which beat the government’s pay policy.
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“I am now determined to lead the fight as general secretary to keep driving up our members’ pay and dealing with the cost-of-living crisis.”
John Moloney was elected assistant general secretary in the ballot of members.
The union has been taking strike action over pay this year. The dispute is over the imposition of a 3% pay settlement and The Pension Regulator’s refusal to engage further with the union.
The PCS last week requested an urgent meeting with work and pensions secretary Mel Stride and DWP permanent secretary Peter Schofield to discuss what the union believes is a “staffing crisis” at the government department.
Meanwhile, Balpa has elected its first permanent female general secretary in its 86-year history with Amy Leversidge taking over in January after being elected unopposed.
Leversidge is currently assistant general secretary at the senior civil servants union FDA.
She will replace Miranda Rackley, who has acted as interim general secretary since Martin Chalk retired earlier this year.
Balpa executive president Paul Copland said he was delighted with the national executive council’s choice and added: “The new year will be a time of new challenges for Balpa with a new NEC leadership and general secretary working together to ensure our members are at the heart of all we do.
“Amy’s experience in her previous roles will add an extra dimension to our team and will help us continue to represent pilots and ensure action is taken on the issues that matter to our members.”
Leversidge said: “The airline industry contributes significantly to the UK economy and supports over a million jobs, and pilots are at the heart of the industry.
“As the voice of UK pilots, Balpa will ensure our voice is influential with employers, regulators and Government on the many challenges the airline industry faces.”
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