3,000 civil servants announce continuous industrial action in latest escalation of strikes

More than 3,000 civil servants in four government departments have announced a programme of continuous industrial action from April 11.

The action by members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) will hit the Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), Forestry Commission, Rural Payments Agency and Marine Management Organisation.

It marks another escalation of the union’s long-running dispute over pay, pensions, redundancy terms and job security.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “This action further ratchets up the pressure on ministers to settle our dispute.

“Our members are showing no sign of backing down.

“They are standing up for themselves because they are fed up with being taken for granted.

“They demand the Government holds meaningful talks with us and puts some money on the table to give them a decent pay rise.”

A spokesperson for Defra, the Forestry Commission and Rural Payments Agency said the government is making efforts to minimise disruption caused by the action.

“We value greatly the work of our people, and regret the decision to take action,” they said.

“We are doing everything possible to minimise the impacts and we will continue to protect the environment at all times.”

The Marine Management Organisation has been approached by the Standard for a response.