Office for National Statistics staff escalate industrial action

Workers at the Office for National Statistics are to escalate industrial action in a dispute over office working.

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) said that 1,200 of its members based in Newport, South Wales; Titchfield, Hampshire; London; Darlington; Manchester and Edinburgh will work to rule starting on 27 August.

Union members voted overwhelmingly for strike action and action short of a strike in a ballot in April, in response to an instruction that staff spend at least 40% of their working time in the office.

From August 27 they are also refusing to work overtime or do any work over and above what is contractually required – a move that puts at risk the deadline for several time-sensitive ONS publications.

‘Well supported’

The PCS says the action is “well-supported” but has had had little impact on the organisation “as members show they can work very well from home”.

Although many staff already spend more than 40% of their working time in the office, the current action is opposing mandatory attendance.

The union says this “robs staff of the flexibility to manage childcare and other domestic responsibilities, as well as requiring them to take unnecessary commutes to the office”.

PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “ONS consistently relies on goodwill to remain functional, but managers have themselves shown little goodwill by forcing staff back into the office.

“This new wave of industrial action will cause disruption in a way working from home has not.”

The union said ONS management has not yet penalised anyone for non-compliance, but has “refused to engage with us to negotiate a mutually acceptable outcome”.

A spokesperson for the Office for National Statistics said: “We 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 supports personal collaboration, learning and innovation.”