Jobcentres close as 100,000 staff join strike over pay row

ALMOST 100,000 workers in three government departments will today go on strike in one of the biggest outbreaks of industrial unrest in the history of the civil service.

Staff in Jobcentres and benefit offices in Scotland, England and Wales will walk out for 48 hours in a long- running row over pay.

They will be joined by workers from the Prison Service in England and Wales who will also launch a 48-hour stoppage in a separate wage dispute which could disrupt the transfer of prisoners.

Workers at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) will stage the first strike in the history of the government’s statistical service, also over pay.

The biggest walkout will hit the Department for Work and Pensions, which has been embroiled in an increasingly bitter row over pay which could end up in the courts.

The Public and Commercial Services Union is considering legal action over the imposition of a new pay performance system.

The union has warned that it will take the department to the High Court unless it withdraws the scheme, complaining that the "unilateral imposition" was a breach of contract.

Mark Serwotka, the union’s general secretary, said: "Members are saying that enough is enough and are fed up with being underpaid and undervalued.

"Rather than attempt to try to find compromise with its workforce, senior management prefer the bully-boy tactics of imposing divisive bonus schemes and real term pay cuts.

"Unfortunately, there will be disruption to the public, but if anyone is going to point the finger, don’t point it at the thousands of low paid public servants, but at the senior managers on six-figure salaries."

The union called on government ministers to intervene in the disputes.

The ONS strike will last for 24 hours and follows workers’ rejection of a 2.9 per cent pay offer.

Meanwhile, in Scotland, unions and council officials are working behind the scenes to set up a fresh round of talks to resolve the ongoing nursery nurses dispute.

COSLA, the umbrella organisation for local authorities, will meet with officials from the public services union Unison shortly after the Easter break. The two organisations have already met to bring the dispute to an end and both described initial talks as "positive".