The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) has announced that it received a letter from Capita last week (Friday 25 July), confirming the beginning of union recognition talks.

These discussions are set to begin in early August, with the aim of formal recognition being in place from “day one” of Capita’s Civil Service Pension Scheme contract.

This development comes as PCS members working at MyCSP, the current administrator of civil service pensions for over 1.5 million members, have been on strike for the past three weeks.

Their action is aimed at securing union recognition and protecting their terms and conditions ahead of the transfer to Capita.

The strike was prompted by MyCSP’s refusal to engage with PCS, opting instead to use an “inexperienced employee forum” to handle the complex transfer process of the terms and conditions.

PCS stated the “strength of feeling” that members have demonstrated in the first three weeks of the strike has sent a signal to both the current employer (MyCSP) and the prospective employer (Capita) that members want a trade union workplace.

At a recent Public Accounts Committee hearing, MyCSP CEO, Duncan Watson, said: “If I recognise the union now, there will then be an assumption that the union will be recognised by Capita. I need to make sure that Capita is comfortable.”

PCS said that Capita’s recent letter, however, suggested that the company is indeed comfortable with recognition and argued that this leaves no excuse for MyCSP to continue resisting recognition of the union.

The strike, which was announced in June and began on 7 July, may be extended beyond the six weeks following a members’ meeting on 25 July, where members indicated they are prepared to extend the action if necessary.

PCS said it is continuing to engage with both MyCSP and the Cabinet Office, in an effort to reach an agreed resolution to the dispute.

The Cabinet Office was previously urged by the National Audit Office (NAO) to fix “persistent service issues” ahead of Capita’s takeover of the Civil Service Pension Scheme’s (CSPS) administration.

MyCSP staff are due to Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment to Capita in December 2025.

Pensions Age has contacted MyCSP and its majority owner, Equiniti, for comment, as well as the Cabinet Office and Capita.

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