“The all-member strike on 1 February was brilliantly supported with more picket lines than ever before – 500 in total – and in areas that have previously not had organised pickets.”
By the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS)
Our national executive today (February 7th) agreed the escalation of targeted action and the latest walkout of all civil service members on 15 March in response to the lack of movement from the government on our demands on pay, pensions and job security. Our strategy calls sustained action in targeted areas where we can exert significant pressure on the employer, supplemented by all-member action called when its effect can be maximised.
The targeted action in areas including Border Force, DVLA, DVSA, DWP and Rural Payments Agency, has been highly effective so far. While the all-member strike on 1 February was brilliantly supported with more picket lines than ever before – 500 in total – and in areas that have previously not had organised pickets.
The second wave of targeted action gets underway in the DWP in Liverpool, Bolton and Stockport this week, and over the course of the next month will involve members at the British Museum, DVLA, Animal and Plant Health Agency and Border Force. Find out who is striking when.
We are also currently balloting members in HMRC, Care Quality Commission, Companies House, National Museum of Wales, Office of Rail and Road, UK Export Finance, VOA and Welsh Government, to ask them to join our civil service strike action. If, as hoped, they beat the 50% legal ballot threshold, a further 33,000 members will join 100,000 PCS members in 123 government departments who have already passed the threshold in striking on 15 March. And in Northern Ireland a ballot of members employed by Home Office, MCA, ICO and Heritage Lottery Fund starts on Thursday (9).
- If you are a PCS supporter, you can donate to the strike fund jhere. You can make an online donation in just a few clicks and even add your own message to the strikers.
- You can also contact your MP – using the PCS e-action tool – and ask them to support our campaign on pay, jobs and pensions.
- This article was originally published by the the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) on February 7th, 2023.
