The UK’s largest civil service union, PCS, has urged its members to vote for industrial action after the government announced that pay rises would be limited to 4.5% to 5%.
Following a meeting today (14 April) with minister for the Cabinet Office Jeremy Quin, the union’s general secretary, Mark Serwotka, said PCS members had been offered no improvement on 2022’s 2% pay rise and just 4.5-5% – half the rate of inflation – for 2023.
The union said it was told the offer was non-negotiable.
The pay offer is for the 100,000-plus members of the PCS who have taken part in a wave of strikes in recent months, as well as senior civil servants represented by the FDA union.
Industrial action
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Pointing out that other public sector workers had received superior offers, Serwotka said: “The government has once again insulted our members in a way no other workers have been subjected to. Despite strong indications ministers were giving our members a backdated pay rise or a lump sum, today’s announcement makes no provision at all to address this 2022’s pay, which they done for other public sector workers.
“This is an outrage, and to single us out for worse treatment than any other union is completely unacceptable.”
He added that the “insulting proposal” would serve only to anger PCS members, and “stiffen their resolve ahead of the forthcoming re-ballot and increase the likelihood of a new wave of sustained strike action.”
He added: “Our strikes have moved the government, but nowhere near far enough.”
The PCS is balloting to continue its industrial action while the FDA’s executive will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday to consider balloting for industrial action.
This industrial action was entirely avoidable, but the government’s failure to bring anything to the table has made it inevitable” – Mike Clancy, Prospect
A further civil service union, Prospect, which represents tens of thousands of technical and specialist staff such as government scientists, has strike action scheduled on 10 May and 7 June.
Prospect’s general secretary Mike Clancy said: “This industrial action was entirely avoidable, but the government’s failure to bring anything to the table has made it inevitable and it leaves hardworking civil servants with no option but to protest over their treatment.”
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, meanwhile has insisted that it would be a “terrible mistake” to give pay rises above the rate of inflation, even though strikes are hurting the economy. He said wage increases that fuelled inflation would have a more damaging impact on the UK economy.
“We have to get this right. I completely understand how the cost of living going up faster than wages makes people angry,” he said.
“Inflation is the root cause of that anger. We must make sure we don’t have the same inflation problems and the same arguments in a year’s time. The worst possible thing for junior doctors, nurses, teachers and rail workers would be if there was still concern about inflation this time next year.”
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said strike action by civil servants contributed to flatlining economic growth in February, confirmed by just-published data. It said the UK economy recorded 0.0% growth in the month, with the construction sector rising 2.4% but services falling 0.1% and production falling 0.2%. Growth in January was 0.4%.
It added that one of the “largest contributions” to the fall in output in February came from education, public administration, defence, and compulsory social security, where industrial action took place.
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Meanwhile, the PCS has revealed that its membership grew by 4.9% in 2022, and accelerated as it balloted members on the current wave of strikes over pay and pensions towards the end of the year. In its newly published Finance Report 2023, which includes the union’s accounts for the year, PCS said membership had grown by 7,867 during the year and stood at 191,289 at 31 December.
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