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The news that Mark Serwotka is retiring from his role as general secretary of the PCS union has come as a shock to many activists, particularly those on the far left of politics. One sobs on twitter: “This news is still only sinking in. He’s been such an inspirational figure in our movement and he certainly deserves a long and happy retirement.” The idiot Labour MP for Wansbeck Ian Lavery adds: “What a miss this lad will be. He’s utterly brilliant and honest and straight forward leader. Good luck to you Mark, your friends and family.” Another fan boy says: “Very sad to see him go, he has been fantastic.” There’s plenty more fluff like this on social media and clearly he is well-loved by sections on the far left. But I’ll wager that the people who will miss him most of all will be the Tories.

I first came across Serwotka in the early 1980s when he emerged as the leader of a long dispute in Caerphilly, South Wales, over the employment of casual members of staff. I was active in the then CPSA union, the forerunner to PCS, in the Bristol area and he pulled the strings across the river. He was unquestionably a fine orator and that gained him a significant cult following across the Wales and South West area. As the years went by, he worked his way up through regional trade union work to DHSS section work where, in the late 1980s, I found myself on the same executive as him. The hard left which he led, particularly in our area, was a nightmare to deal with, particularly as they had the entire area pretty well stitched-up. In 1991, I called it a day and in the years and decades which followed so did virtually every other moderate and mainstream left activist in the land.

PCS was formed when CPSA merged with the executive union SCPS and in 2000 Serwotka defeated the moderate incumbent to the general secretary job and has held on to it, often elected unopposed, until today when he announced he was retiring. As his groupies say, Serwotka deserves a long and happy retirement. Just look at his stellar record in charge:

Wages have been falling in real terms throughout the 13 years of this Conservative government. PCS members are involved in a campaign for a better pay rise for 2022 and 2023. But since the plan of industrial action was drawn up nearly a year ago, we have seen a couple of national one day strikes and some regional action where some members have been paid their full salary by the union and PCS hasn’t even managed to get the government to the negotiating table.
Civil Service pensions have taken a severe mauling during the Serwotka years. The campaign to prevent the cuts failed dismally.
Not a single campaign of industrial action in the Serwotka years has succeeded. Not one.
The union is now run from top to bottom by the hard left. It will be almost impossible for anyone not of the hard left to even run for election for any post, never mind win one.
When Jeremy Corbyn was Labour leader, Serwotka was open to the union affiliating to the Labour Party.
PCS under Serwotka is affiliated to (pays money to) Stop The War, Palestinian Solidarity Campaign and the Cuba Solidarity Campaign.

Okay, so I’m scraping the barrel with some of these examples, but it’s a very big barrel. Above all, PCS has been turned into the laughing stock of the trade union movement, a union that talks the talk but can’t walk the walk. It is a union that starts campaigns on all manner of issues, but never ends them. If a pay campaign has been lost, as they all have been under Serwotka, they aren’t ended; they’re left to fizzle out. If you can find me a current PCS member who is better off today than when Serwotka become general secretary in 2000, I will call them a liar. It’s lose, lose, lose for the poor bloody members but the comrades still bang on like the revolution is about to arrive. 23 long years have passed by and comrades, it really isn’t.

I hope against hope that someone of reason and common sense wills succeed the not-so-great man, but the way PCS is organised I doubt that such a person, with mainstream political views, will even be able to get on the ballot paper and even if they can the impressive campaign machine of the hard left will lurch into action and ensure the coronation of continuity Serwotka. Quite why anyone would want to elect someone for more of the same is beyond me but sadly the electorate will likely have the choice of two comrades or maybe only even one.

I don’t wish Mark Serwotka ill in a personal sense. He was very unwell a few years ago and needed a heart transplant. One of the reasons he is getting out early is surely to protect his health. I hope he slips quietly into the background and finds a life more rewarding than turning an effective, well-organised trade union into a Trotskyite talking shop. Because that’s the legacy he leaves behind. “He’s utterly brilliant and honest and straight forward leader,” says idiot MP Ian Lavery. Not to PCS members, comrade. He’s done to PCS what Corbyn did to Labour. Brilliant, my arse.

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