More than 130,000 civil servants will go on strike on 28 April as their union increases the pressure on the government to act on pay, pensions and job security.
The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union called the ‘national day of action’, which will involve members across all civil service roles, ahead of a month of strikes beginning on 3 April, in which separate walkouts will be held by its members at the British Museum, British Library, National Highways, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and Border Force.
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Civil servants have been offered a pay increase of 2-3%. The union has been calling for a 10% pay rise, better pensions, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “Our members are not backing down in this dispute. Ministers need to take notice that we’re escalating our action and they need to resolve the dispute by putting money on the table.
“We know our strikes have already caused serious disruption. The new strikes and another national day of action will pile the pressure on a government that refuses to listen.”
The last all-out strike by civil servants took place on 15 March, the day of the chancellor’s spring Budget. The PCS said the strike was “brilliantly supported by members, with big picket lines and demonstrations”.
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The PCS union’s six-month legal mandate for strike action in 124 groups expires on 6 May. A fresh strike ballot of 124,125 members at 186 employers opened on 20 March and will run until 9 May. HMRC members will not be balloted this time as they have a strike mandate which runs until 26 August.
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