Thousands
of staff from the Government’s largest department are taking part in a 48-hour
strike after the collapse of long-running pay talks.
Officers
dealing with pensions, benefits and child support went on strike this morning
in what could prove the biggest disruption to the Civil Service in years.
As
many as 90,000 staff could be on strike, with driving instructors expected to
join the fray over a series of imposed below inflation pay offers.
The
two-day strike action follows the imposition of a 2.6 per cent cost of living
increase in the Department for Work and Pensions and a 2 per cent cost of
living offer to the Driving Standards Agency.
Mark
Serwotka, general secretary at the PCS union said: "I’m very disappointed
that we have had to take strike action to defend members’ interests, however
civil servants are simply no longer prepared to accept poverty wages.
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"We
have far too many members administering government benefits that they also have
to claim just to scrape together a living. I call on ministers in all the
departments involved to step in and release the money to resolve this
dispute."
