One hundred and sixty members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) working at the Driving Standards Agency (DSA) are to be balloted about industrial action.
The ballot asks whether staff want to take discontinuous strike action or industrial action short of a strike in a dispute about job cuts.
The union argues that a shared services project between the DSA and the Department for Transport (DfT) will cost DSA staff their jobs for no good reason.
Despite the DSA’s finance, HR, pay and procurement being acclaimed as the most efficient in the civil service the DfT is planning to break it up, with the loss of 50 jobs.
The move will deliver no apparent benefits or savings, the union claimed.
Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary said: “Here we have a function supporting the work of driving examiners which is acclaimed for its efficiency.
“Yet the DfT, with a flawed business case and at no benefit to the taxpayer, wants to break it up, leading to driving examiners invariably having to do some of the work of HR, payroll and finance staff.”
The ballot is due to run until 24 August.
