Civil servants set to strike in general election run-up

THE Government is facing a series of national strikes by hundreds of thousands of civil servants in the run-up to the general election in a bitter row over cuts to compensation payments, it was announced today.

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) said it will ballot its 270,000 members, with walkouts by customs and immigration officers, JobCentre and benefit workers, museum staff and tax officers threatened from early March.