28 May 2024 , 12:29
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A key service for people who claim Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefits has been affected today.
Over 1,000 JobCentre security guards staged their fifth 24-hour strike today in a dispute over pay and conditions. This has caused many of the benefit department's more than 600 sites across the country to close their doors to claimants today. Those claiming benefits such as Universal Credit need to go to the job centre to meet with their work coach. These meetings allow claimants to discuss their claim and work coaches offer help and advice to people looking for work.
Members of the GMB union, which are employed by the private contractor G4S, say they have seen a real-term pay cut that means 90% of them earn just the minimum wage. According to the union, G4S has been handed £211million by the DWP since December 2022.
GMB Union members held a strike last week on May 20 and urged the DWP to "step in" and end the dispute. Eamon O’Hearn, GMB national officer, said: “These workers do a very dangerous, difficult job. Yet they are paid the same as the cleaners who don’t have to deal with terrifying hostility from some customers. 90% of these security guards earn just the minimum wage and can barely keep a roof over their heads."
GMB's national office said the walk-out was "historic" and the first time G4S security guards had ever taken strike action over pay. According to reports, previous strikes held this month saw around 70 JobCentres unable to provide business-as-usual services as a result of the industrial action. This is around 10% of all JobCentres in the country. However, the exact figures have not been confirmed by the DWP. GMB Union has also accused the DWP and G4S of drafting in untrained agency staff to provide cover for striking members, which it said put departmental staff and service users at risk.
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A DWP spokesperson said: “DWP payments are not affected by the strike action by external G4S staff who work in our jobcentres and most sites remain open. If a site is closed, we are contacting customers if appointments need to be rescheduled or moved to alternative locations.”
A G4S spokesperson said: “We’re disappointed that the GMB has refused to take our improved pay offer to [its] members. We are continuing to try to reach an amicable agreement, and have implemented contingency plans to minimise disruption to our customer.”