‘Enough is enough’ as 100,000 civil servants vote to strike

10 NOVEMBER 2022 | NEWS

The Public and Commercial Services union has today voted to strike over pay and pensions unless it receives “substantial proposals” from the Government.

The union represents more than 100,000 civil servants across the UK, and warns that it will take “sustained industrial action” on 18 November “if the Government fails to listen [to its members]”.

The General Secretary of the PCS union, Mark Serwotka, said: “The Government must look at the huge vote for strike action across swathes of the Civil Service and realise it can no longer treat its workers with contempt.

“Our members have spoken and if the Government fails to listen to them, we’ll have no option than to launch a prolonged programme of industrial action reaching into every corner of public life.

“Civil servants have willingly and diligently played a vital role in keeping the country running during the pandemic, but enough is enough,” he continued.

“The stress of working in the Civil Service, under the pressure of the cost-of-living crisis, job cuts and office closures means they’ve reached the end of their tethers.

“We are calling on the Government to respond positively to our members’ demands,” he added.

Mr Serwotka says the Government has to “give our members a 10% pay rise, job security, pensions justice and protected redundancy terms”.

PCS is also asking for a minimum wage of £15 per hour for all civil servants, as well as no further cuts to redundancy payments and a 2% cut to pension contributions that any civil servants may have overpaid since 2018.

With 100,000 of its members voting to strike, the union says it has reached the legal threshold for industrial action.

It comes as nurses represented by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union also voted to strike over pay, following an ongoing dispute with the Government.

It is calling for a pay rise of 12%, which is 5% above the RPI level of inflation.

In response to the PCS ballot, a Government spokesperson said: “The public sector pay awards are a careful balance between delivering value for money for the taxpayer and recognising the importance of public sector workers.”

The Government said it regretted the decision to strike and remained in “regular discussion with unions and staff”, adding that plans were in place to minimise potential disruption if strikes go ahead, BBC News reports.

The threat of industrial action by the PCS came as the Government announced plans to cut more than 90,000 Civil Service jobs and proposals to cut redundancy pay by an estimated 25.9% in August.

One Senior Conservative MP, Jacob Rees-Mogg, sparked anger in September when he scrapped 250 “woke” training courses within the Civil Service to crack down on “indoctrination” while he was Minister for Government Efficiency.

The former Business Secretary has also previously criticised civil servants for continuing to work from home even after all the pandemic restrictions had been lifted, instead of returning to the office.

The incumbent Conservative Government has for some time argued that the “bureaucracy” within the Civil Service needed to be pared back.

But it is understood in Whitehall that two other Civil Service trade unions, FDA and Prospect, are also considering balloting their members for strike action over pay.