14 April 2023 , 11:43
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Thousands of civil servants will strike again in a row over pay, union leaders announced today.
The Prospect union, which represents staff across the Civil Service, said walkouts will take place on May 10 and June 7.
The Met Office, Health and Safety Executive, Trinity House, Intellectual Property Office, Animal and Plant Health Agency, Natural England and UK Research and Innovation are likely to be affected.
It fuels fears of a summer of discontent, as industrial disputes with the Government continue to grip Britain.
Confirming fresh industrial action, the union said: “This follows the refusal of the Government to enter negotiations to resolve the current pay and conditions dispute, having instead announced a pay control of 4.5% which will further erode living standards.”
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Inflation is currently running at 10.5% meaning ministers’ offer is a real terms pay cut.
Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy said: “We have repeatedly offered to engage in pay talks aimed at resolving this dispute provided they followed a comparable approach to that employed elsewhere in the public service.
Prospect union General Secretary Mike Clancy said 'we have repeatedly offered to engage in pay talks' (Courtesy of Prospect union)“By publishing the pay control, the Government has abandoned its staff to further real terms cuts and to remain at the back of the public service pay queue.
“This industrial action was entirely avoidable, but the Government’s failure to bring anything to the table has made it inevitable and it leaves hard working civil servants with no option but to protest over their treatment.”
Prospect members last staged a strike on March 15 in a dispute over pay, job numbers and proposed cuts to redundancy terms.
Members have also been undertaking action short of a strike – including working to contracted hours and an overtime ban – since March 16.
That will continue.
Mr Clancy warned that unless the Government U-turns, “it will face a recruitment and retention crisis that degrades the Civil Service and the public services we all rely on”.
The FDA union, which represents senior civil servants, branded the pay rise offer of between 4.5% and 5% “contemptuous”.
General secretary Dave Penman said it would consider strike action.
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“Following months of ministers dragging their feet, the government has decided to shoot itself in the foot over Civil Service pay,” he warned.
“Today’s pay remit guidance of a 4.5% increase, with no consolidated payment, is unconscionable given the current economic climate that civil servants face.
“This has been done without any meaningful dialogue on the substance of the ‘offer’, despite repeated assurances over the last two months of an enhanced consultation process, which just rubs salt in the wound.
“There is no pretence that the Government places any value in engagement and constructive dialogue.
“This guidance will leave the Civil Service with the worst pay deal in the public sector by far, showing utter contempt for the vital work they do to support the Government and deliver public services that the country relies upon.”
The Public and Commercial Services union described the pay announcement as an "insult".
"This insulting proposal will serve only to anger PCS members, stiffen their resolve ahead of the forthcoming re-ballot and increase the likelihood of a new wave of sustained strike action,” said general secretary Mark Serwotka.
"To make no improvement on 2022's offer of 2% and to announce a below-inflation rise for 2023 is an insult and shows once again the Government has treated its own workforce demonstrably worse than anyone else."
A Government spokesman said: "This guidance recognises the hard work and vital importance of Civil Service staff by offering the highest pay increase in 20 years, in line with forecast wage growth across the economy.
"The deal is also fair to the taxpayer and supports the Government’s promise to halve inflation this year, which will help everyone’s incomes go further."
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