33,000 more civil servants vote for strike action
PCS members in all nine re-balloted government departments beat the turnout threshold to join the union's national strike
33,000 more civil servants in nine more government departments – including those at HMRC and those working for the Welsh Government – have voted to join strike action by the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union.
They will join 100,000 PCS members in 123 departments taking action on March 15 with the result marking a significant escalation of the union’s long-running dispute over pay, pensions, redundancy terms and job security.
The other departments are the Care Quality Commission, Companies House, Information Commissioner’s Office, National Museum of Wales, Office of Rail & Road, UK Export Finance and the Valuation Office Agency.
All nine departments in the ballot beat the required 50% turnout threshold and members in all four departments balloted over action short of a strike – Rural Payments Agency, DEFRA, Forestry Commission and Marine Maritime Organisation – have also returned large ‘Yes’ votes.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “Today’s overwhelming result is an astonishing show of strength and intent from our members and sends a very strong message to the government that we will not stop this action until we get a fair pay rise.
“We have consistently demanded a pay rise to help our members through the cost-of-living crisis; ministers have consistently refused to put more money on the table.
“They might have hoped we’d go away if they buried their heads in the sand, but they’ve under-estimated the determination of our members, who were praised for keeping the country running during the pandemic but now taken for granted.
“As these results clearly demonstrate, our members have had enough. Unless ministers put more money on the table, our strikes will continue to escalate, beginning on March 15.”
PCS members are this week taking strike action at the DWP, DVLA and Land Registry. Next week there is strike action at Ofsted and DVSA (driving instructors).
The majority of PCS members who were balloted last year will be re-balloted from March 20 because their six-month strike mandate expires in May.