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Civil servants vote for industrial action
Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) have voted decisively in favour of industrial action in an ongoing dispute over pay, job security and civil service privatisation.
Objecting to the approach adopted by the government in its drive to improve efficiency and reduce costs by cutting 84,000 civil and public service jobs, 61.3 per cent of civil servants in the poll voted for a strike, while 77.9 per cent called for action of some form.
Hundreds of thousands of PCS members will stage a 24-hour walkout on January 31st, the deadline for self-assessment tax returns. Staff from 200 government departments are expected to participate, affecting a plethora of public services.
As specified in the ballot, civil servants will also work no overtime for the first fortnight of February.
“This overwhelming vote in favour of industrial action illustrates the depth of anger amongst the government’s own workforce against crude job cuts and below-inflation pay offers,” said Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS.
“The people who have said they will go on strike to defend the services we all take for granted aren’t high-flying mandarins or faceless bureaucrats, but hard-working and often low-paid civil and public servants delivering everything from passports, tax and benefits to supporting our armed forces and driving tests.”
Bemoaning the decision by the PCS, Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden insisted that “there is no need for strike action”.
“The government values the civil service highly,” he said. “If PCS members have concerns about job losses or pay there is an established industrial relations process to discuss these issues.”
© Adfero Ltd
