British civil servants to strike over redundancy pay

Up to 270,000 civil servants are to stage a national two-day strike in a bitter row over redundancy pay, it was announced yesterday night.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services union will walk out on March 8 and 9, with the threat of services being hit by industrial action throughout March.

The strikes will involve job-centre staff, tax workers, coastguards, border agency officials, court staff and driving test examiners.

They follow a long-running row over changes to the civil service compensation scheme.

Union members voted by 63 per cent in favour of stoppages, with 81 per cent backing an overtime ban.

The union complained that changes to redundancy and compensation arrangements will see staff "robbed" of up to a third of their entitlements and see civil and public servants lose tens of thousands of pounds if they are "forced" out of a job.

The union's national executive committee will be meeting next week to finalise further strike dates, which could include national walk-outs and targeted strike action.

General secretary Mark Serwotka said: "These cuts, which will see loyal civil and public servants lose tens of thousands of pounds if they are forced out of a job, are more about crude politicking than making savings.

"We have suggested ways in which the Government can make these savings while protecting the rights of existing members, yet it seems intent on penalising the people who keep this country running.

"With civil and public service jobs increasingly at risk, this is a cynical attempt to cut jobs on the cheap which will ultimately damage the services we all rely on.

"The Government needs to recognise the depth of anger which has been demonstrated by this ballot result and find the political will to negotiate a settlement that avoids a sustained campaign of industrial action."

Other civil service unions have reached agreement with the Government over redundancy pay.

Tessa Jowell, Minister for the Cabinet Office, said: "The new deal on the Civil Service compensation scheme is fair for staff and taxpayers, and five of the six Civil Service unions - who between them represent thousands of civil servants across all grades - agree with us.

"It is very disappointing that the PCS has decided to take industrial action, especially given that less than one in five of their own members voted in favour of strike action, and that, overall, this figure represents only around 10 per cent of the total Civil Service workforce.

"This is, furthermore, the lowest turnout for a PCS ballot in recent years.