Civil servants to vote on strike over public sector pay

Civil servants are to vote on a nationwide strike as anger grows over the government's public sector pay policy.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) will be balloted from 24 September to 17 October on a programme of targeted industrial action.

On the eve of the TUC Congress in Brighton, the PCS also pledged to step up its efforts to co-ordinate action with other unions.

With the government attempting to enforce a 2% limit for public sector pay rises, the PCS claims that many civil servants face real-terms pay cuts.

Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: "The government says it is on the side of hard pressed families, yet it compounds the financial misery for hundreds of thousands of hard working people by pursuing an unjust pay policy.

"Faced with pay cuts, pay freezes and increasing financial hardship, civil and public servants will not tolerate the government's approach to pay which is disproportionately hitting some of the lowest paid in the economy."