Mark Serwotka

Mark Serwotka (/ˈsɛərvoʊtkə/; born 26 April 1963) is General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), the trade union for British civil servants.

Born in a Catholic orphanage in Cardiff, Wales, he was adopted by a Polish-born British father and a Welsh mother.

In 1979, aged sixteen, he joined the Civil Service, and started work as a benefits clerk, joining the union on the first day.

Serwotka became a union representative in 1980 and a personal case officer in 1995.

In the 2000 election that saw Serwotka elected General Secretary, he initially faced two rival candidates: Hugh Lanning of the Membership First faction and the incumbent Barry Reamsbottom of the National Moderate Group. However, Reamsbottom did not secure the fifty branch nominations needed to appear on the ballot paper. Serwotka then beat Lanning with 41,000 to 33,000 votes.

Following Serwotka's election, Reamsbottom refused to step down when his term of office expired, citing what he claimed were legal irregularities in the election process. The dispute was taken to the High Court where Serwotka won and subsequently assumed office.

In 2005, Serwotka was elected unopposed for another term as General Secretary; no other candidates were allowed to stand as he was the only candidate with the required 25 branch nominations. In 2009, Serwotka was re-elected for a five-year term, gaining 37,866 votes against Rob Bryson's 21,883. In 2014, he was elected unopposed for a fourth five-year term.

In the 2000 General Secretary election, Serwotka pledged that if elected he would only accept the equivalent of an average civil servant's wage. Serwotka returns around £8,000 of his annual salary to the union. In 2011, his total package was worth £126,258 including pension contributions of £27,860.

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