The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) has announced that it will ballot its membership to see if it should seek the right to strike.
It said the decision follows “more than a decade of requesting the government to address police officers’ poor working terms and conditions”. These requests, said the PFEW, have “consistently been ignored by the government, significantly depriving officers of the pay they deserve and the police service of much-needed resources”.
“The government’s neglect has resulted in a growing sense of anger and frustration amongst our membership. On its part, as the voice of more than 145,000 rank and file officers in England and Wales, PFEW is simply responding to its members’ very legitimate expectations and aspirations,” said a PFEW statement.
The PFEW, which was set up in the wake of the last police strike in 1918-19, is now working with a leading barrister on how it could pursue industrial rights for its membership.
Police strike rights
Members of the PFEW’s national council, which draws representatives from all parts of England and Wales, and the national board are said to be united in their approach to ballot the membership on industrial rights “as soon as practicable”.
During the First World War, when the cost of living more than doubled, police officers received only a negligible pay rise.
This led to the National Union of Police and Prison Officers calling a strike and in August 1918 around 12,000 officers walked out from the Metropolitan Police, almost the entire force.
The shock of a police strike resulted in new terms and conditions by the next day but the trade union was outlawed.
West Midlands Police Federation chair Rich Cooke today made an impassioned plea for colleagues to give a mandate to push for the right to strike. Addressing the PFEW annual conference via video link, he said police officers have been “badly let down by the current system that determines our pay and conditions”.
He said: “A 17% average reduction in our real terms pay since the year 2000 is nothing short of scandalous. And we currently have no real recourse, no seat at the table to negotiate with the government, with chief officers around our pay. That’s what needs to change.
“This ballot gives [police officers] across all the 43 federation branches a powerful opportunity to change this and to make our voices heard in the corridors of power. Let’s make it happen, let’s come together, let’s deliver an overwhelming turnout and let the voice of the membership be heard.”
For the police to be able to achieve industrial rights, the PFEW would need to ask the home secretary to amend or repeal section 91 of the Police Act.
If this was unsuccessful, then it would have to seek a judicial review that the ban on industrial action denies police officers the right to join an effective trade union. The case could then go to the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court and ultimately the European Court of Human Rights
The PFEW represents more than 145,000 police officers, around 98% of the workforce, up to and including the rank of chief inspector as well as special constables.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
HR opportunities in the public sector on Personnel Today
Browse more HR opportunities in the public sector
