Mark Serwotka ( /ˈsɛərvoʊtkə/; born 26 April 1963),[1] is General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), the trade union for British civil servants.
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Born into a Catholic orphanage in Cardiff, Wales, he was adopted by a Polish British father and a Welsh mother.
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 became a personal case officer in 1995.[1]
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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] The dispute was taken to the High Court where Serwotka won and subsequently assumed office.[5] In December 2009, Serwotka was re-elected for a five-year term, gaining 37,866 votes against Rob Bryson's 21,883.[6]
In 2010 he received £88,675 in salary as well as £26,159 in pension contributions and a £474 additional housing cost allowance.[7] In 2011, pay for Serwotka and other senior PCS officials was frozen.
Serwotka was a member of Socialist Organiser in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He was later a supporter of the Socialist Alliance and then Respect.[8]
Married, Serwotka is an avid Cardiff City fan and lives in Chipstead, Surrey. [9]
Ahead of a visit by Pope Benedict XVI in September 2010, Serwotka was named as one of the hundred most influential Catholics in Britain by The Tablet.[10]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Barry Reamsbottom |
General Secretary of the PCS 2002 - present |
Succeeded by incumbent |