Civil servants in Scotland to join UK strike action

UP TO 30,000 civil service staff in Scotland could take part in strike action next month, it was confirmed today.

Government workers north of the border will join the UK-wide industrial action over proposed changes to a compensation scheme.

The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) said civil servants will miss out on thousands of pounds if they lose their job under the plans.

Its 270,000 UK members yesterday backed a 48 hour strike on March 8 and 9.

PCS Scottish secretary Lynn Henderson said today: "The figure for Scotland is 30,000, including those working in the Scottish devolved sectors."

About 5,000 Scottish Government workers are PCS members, with others working in UK national departments like the Department of Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs and Ministry of Defence.

Jobcentre staff, tax workers, coastguards and border agency officials will also be involved.

Ms Henderson added: "We will be co-ordinating strike action across Scotland and organising rallies and so on, on March 8 and 9.

"The national executive will meet next week to lay out a strategy for March, but we're certainly looking for the month of March to be a month of action."

Ms Henderson said the strikes may impact on the election campaign, with the union to start lobbying MPs in their constituencies this weekend.

Meanwhile council pay talks ended on a sour note yesterday as unions branded the rejection of their bid for a 3% pay rise as a "slap in the face."

Unison, Unite and GMB unions, who were representing around 150,000 council staff, sought a 3% claim for 2010-11.

A Unison spokesman said that, at a meeting with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) this week, the claim was "simply dismissed without any negotiations."