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30,000 Scottish and civil and public servants to strike for 48 hours

26 February 2010

Over 30,000 civil and public servants will take part in a UK wide month of industrial action, starting with a 48 hour strike on 8 and 9 March in a dispute over unilateral changes to redundancy terms, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) have announced.

Strike action could hit civil and public services every week of next month from Monday 8 March following strong support in a ballot which saw 63.4% of those voting backing strike action and 81.4% supporting an overtime ban.

The strikes, which will involve Jobcentre staff, tax workers, coastguards, Scottish government and parliament staff, courts staff and driving test examiners, are a result of the government and Cabinet Office making unilateral changes to the civil service compensation scheme.

The changes will see staff robbed of up to a third of their entitlements and see loyal civil and public servants lose tens of thousands of pounds if they are forced out of a job. T

The government is looking to save £500 million through the changes, based on the number of jobs it has axed over the last three years.

With all the main political parties planning deep spending cuts, the union fears that the cuts to the scheme will lead to tens of thousands of job losses on the cheap.

The unions national executive committee will be meeting next week on 2, 3 and 4 March to finalise further strike dates, which could include national walkouts and targeted strike action.

Lynn Henderson, PCS Scottish Secretary, said "PCS members across Scotland, whether working in UK or Scottish departments or NDPBs have demonstrated their resolve in voting to defend their redundancy scheme.

Our members deliver vital public services in every parliamentary constituency from Shetland to Stranraer. From tomorrow they'll be knocking on our MPs doors to demand their support to secure the jobs of public sector workers and the services they provide on which we all rely".

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