PCS announces Budget Day walkout by 100,000 civil servants

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has announced an escalation of strike action with 100,000 members walking out on Budget Day.

The action on March 15 is part of the union’s national dispute over pay, pensions, redundancy terms and job security, and follows hard on the heels of last week’s successful strike that saw PCS members in 123 government departments walk out across Wales, England and Scotland.

Next month’s strike could be joined by a further 33,000 members working for ten more employers, including HMRC, whose ballot results are due on February 28.

The union’s targeted action is being escalated and now moves to a number of areas, including the DWP on Thursday and, next week, the Border Force, British Museum, DVLA and Animal and Plant Health Agency.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “Rishi Sunak doesn’t seem to understand that the more he ignores our members’ demands for a pay rise to get them through the cost-of-living crisis, the more angry and more determined he makes them.

“PCS members are suffering a completely unacceptable decline in their pay. By April, one third of HMRC staff, for example, will be earning just the minimum wage.

“40,000 civil servants have used a foodbank. It’s an appalling way for the government to treat its own workforce.

“Rishi Sunak can end this dispute tomorrow if he puts more money on the table. If he refuses to do that, more action is inevitable.”