Met Police members to be balloted for strike action
The dispute is over the imposition of a new hybrid working policy that increases the time staff must attend an office.
PCS has served notice on the Metropolitan Police to ballot over industrial action. The dispute is over the imposition of a new hybrid working policy that seeks to increase the time staff have to attend the office. The increases range from 60-100%. The staff affected are civilians who support the day-to-day work of police officers.
The ballot will open on 12 November and close on 10 December.
The existing policy on how many days members work from home or in the office has been in place for several years, with collective agreements in each area on blended working. The Met has not provided any good reasons for its change of policy.
The change will impact most on women, the disabled and part-time workers, reflecting the findings of the 2023 Baroness Casey Review that the Met is institutionally discriminatory, with a lack of diversity.
PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “Yet again we are seeing a arbitrary figure chosen to decide how many days a week our members have to come into the office, when they are working perfectly well from home.
“There is no evidence people work better in the office. In fact, the opposite is true because workers are more productive when they have a better work-life balance, not having to commute and able to spend more time with their family at home before and after work.
“It’s not too late for the Met to change their mind and return to the blended working model that has been successful for many years.”