“The government, which has spent years turning a blind eye to our pay demands, will no longer be able to ignore us.”
Mark Serwotka, PCS Union General Secretary
By PCS Union
Driving examiners and rural payment officers across the UK have announced strike dates in the first wave of sustained industrial action by civil servant members of PCS.
Workers at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, including driving examiners, staff in the call centre, driving instructor examiners and local driving test managers, are to take action on a rolling regional basis starting in Scotland and Northern from 13-18 December. And staff at the Rural Payments Agency will walk out from 13 to 16 December and follow that up with further strikes on 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 December and 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 January.
The RPA offices in Workington, Newcastle and Caernarfon will be striking.
The DVSA strikes will continue from 19-24 December in the North West, Yorkshire and Humber and North Wales, on 28, 29, 30, 31 December and 3 January in the West Midlands, Eastern region and East Midlands and from 4 to 10 January in London, South East, South Wales and South West.
There will be DVSA strikes on 18, 19, 20 and 21 December, covering traffic examiners and vehicle examiners employed across all DVSA workplaces. And on 12, 13 and 16 January 2023 covering Newcastle Lightbox and Newcastle Tyneside House.
DVSA and RPA are two of 124 government departments and other public bodies that have voted for strike action over a 10% pay rise, pensions justice, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms. The targeted action could take place well into 2023.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “This is the first wave of the hardest-hitting industrial action the government will have faced in decades and will cause a massive amount of disruption.
“The government, which has spent years turning a blind eye to our pay demands, will no longer be able to ignore us.
“Our members are proud of their work, so it’s not easy for them to take action they know will affect the very people they came into the job to serve.
“But the government has given them no option. Their pay has fallen far below inflation and many of our members – the government’s own workforce – are forced to use foodbanks because they can’t afford to eat.
“The government is in the position to stop these strikes by putting money on the table. Ministers must know we will not stop until our demands are met and our members receive the decent pay rise they need to get them through the cost-of-living crisis and beyond.”
PCS will be announcing strike dates in other departments, including the Home Office and Department for Work and Pensions, over the course of the next few weeks.
Read our Q&A about next steps in our national campaign.
- This article was originally published by the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS Union) on November 29th, 2022. Not a member of PCS, you can join here.
- You can show your support for PCS Union members taking action on Facebook, twitter and Instagram.
