Escalation of civil servants’ disputes could bring strike action

Disputes involving civil servants are escalating, threatening strikes over issues including office closures and working from home.

The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) announced it was balloting its members at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government for industrial action over separate disputes.

More than 1,000 PCS members at the ONS based in Newport, Titchfield in Hampshire, London, Darlington, Manchester and Edinburgh, have been refusing to follow an instruction to spend at least 40% of their time in the office and are not working overtime.

Mandate

Their six-month strike mandate runs out at the beginning of April, so the union is balloting members for a new one to allow action to continue.

PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “Management’s mandatory workplace attendance regime does nothing to improve productivity but everything to disrupt the lives of ONS staff.

“Our ongoing action has allowed our members to continue those flexible arrangements without damaging the organisation’s outputs.

“We have sought a negotiated approach to hybrid working at ONS from the outset and there is a collective conciliation process now under way with Acas.

“We are engaging in this process in good faith but there is no guarantee of it resolving this dispute. In the meantime, we need to ensure our dispute can continue by renewing our statutory ballot mandate and securing ongoing protection for our members.”

The ballot ends on March 31.

Economic growth

The union is also balloting more than 1,100 of its members in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) for strike action in a row over office closures, attendance policies and recruitment practices.

The union said moves to close six regional offices in Birmingham, Exeter, Newcastle, Sheffield, Truro and Warrington will be a “significant blow” to the Government’s mission to kickstart economic growth and break down barriers to opportunity.

Ms Heathcote said: “The Government’s actions are in stark contradiction to its own promises.

“The department cannot claim to empower local communities while stripping away the very support they need.

“The impact of these closures won’t just be felt by staff, it will affect local government, housing projects, and even emergency response efforts. We call on the Deputy Prime Minister to intervene and stop this dispute before it starts.”

An MHCLG spokesperson said: “We have been engaging with unions and staff about a number of proposals – including plans to expand five offices outside of London and close six offices over the next two years, as leases come to an end.

“The department will continue to have offices in every English region, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and all staff affected will be able to continue in their roles in one of these locations.”

‘Reasonable level’

A spokesperson for the Office for National Statistics said: “We still believe firmly that a reasonable level of office attendance – in line with the wider civil service – is in the best interests of the ONS and all our colleagues.

“Face-to-face interaction helps people to build working relationships and supports collaboration, innovation and skills development.

“We’ve done a lot to ensure our hybrid working model is flexible and we look forward to discussions through the Acas conciliation service to seek a way forward.”

Commenting on the ONS dispute, Acas director of dispute resolution Kate Nowicki said: “It is encouraging that the parties have agreed to Acas conciliation.

“Acas conciliators have considerable skill and experience helping parties in dispute find a mutually acceptable resolution and we are optimistic we can help them find a solution.”