Metropolitan Police staff have voted to take strike action over plans to make them return to the office for three to five days a week.
The new policy, which requires employees to attend their workplace for between 60% and 100% of the week depending on their location, affects 2,400 workers.
In a ballot that closed yesterday, members voted overwhelming in favour of industrial action, with 85% saying yes to strike action.
According to the PCS union, which represents the workers, this was the first time the Met Police’s workforce had ever voted for industrial action.
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It said the results of the vote showed the “depth of feeling” of staff and accused managers of reversing the existing blended working agreement that allowed part-time home working, claiming also that the move would disproportionately affect women, part-time workers and those with disabilities.
PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “Our members are not bobbies on the beat. They are desk-based civilians who work from home just as productively as if they were in the office, but without the stress and cost of a daily commute.
“It’s time politicians and the right-wing media stopped their obsession with telling people where they have to work and started listening to the evidence of academics, employers and employees that shows working from home is a perfectly viable option for many people.”
However, the Met Police expressed its disappointment that the union felt such action was necessary, highlighting that PCS members included not only desk-based staff, but staff who worked directly on the frontline, including police community support officers and scenes of crime officers.
A spokesperson said: “We know this will raise questions about our ability to serve London, but we want to reassure the public we have contingencies in place to keep them safe.
“Our policy doesn’t end working from home, we have given staff and officers in support roles the ability to work from home up to two days a week. Our plans will provide consistency across the Met and ensure we can deliver for our communities.
“Although the threshold for strike action has been met, it doesn’t have to go ahead and we urge our staff and the union not to take further action.”
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