The Council of Civil Service Unions (CCSU) is seeking to cobble together a united front to present to the government as it campaigns against cuts in civil service redundancy pay and also the threat of cuts to public sector pensions.

It would have not been a surprise that the government wants to reduce civil service redundancy pay by primary legislation after heavy coverage in Monday’s newspapers. But to see the terms of compulsory redundancy pay slashed from two years (agreed by five unions with the Labour government) to just one must have still been a painful experience for the unions who predicted this would happen all along.

All the more grueling would have been the dig put into Francis Maude’s announcement yesterday morning, saying that “had the PCS show the same willingness to negotiate as the other five civil service unions then today’s action might not have been necessary.”

Representatives of the FDA, Prospect, and the PCS were intent on showing that the unions could work together as they addressed civil servants yesterday at Civil Service Live. There were warm noises made by an FDA representative on unions working together on pensions and pay. Dai Hudd, deputy general secretary of Prospect, set out the idea of unions uniting in a political campaign – which he said would open up cracks already showing in the coalition government.

Yet the more obvious split is still within the civil service unions. Step away from the union bigwigs and it is clear there is ill-feeling between the two camps. Yesterday, I showed the Cabinet Office announcement to an FDA member here at Civil Service Live. Their initial response? “Thanks very much, PCS.” In his mind, the PCS were those most at fault, with the government’s position a secondary concern.

And members of the PCS union here seem equally irritated by their union comrades. I received a dresnsing dow when I suggested at the PCS stand that their legal action may have been in vain.  The agitation increased when I said that the other unions now feel vindicated in backing the previous government’s offer. The other unions are undemocratic, they said, only the PCS are standing up for their members while the government tries to “union bust”.
 

Ironically, other civil service unions are now looking at legal options of holding up legislation which changes civil service redundancy pay – both in the UK and the EU.

And, the CCSU are keen to campaign together on other issues that, at least publicly, they haven’t yet fallen out on, notably public sector pensions. Here they can reach more of a united front – with all sides set against seeing accrued rights lost. But given that this was the unions’ issue with redundancy pay cuts, they may very well end up pursuing different methods of opposing it.