Civil servants threaten strike over returning to office for two days a week
Civil servants are threatening to go on strike over demands to return to the office for two days a week.
Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union working for the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) have voted for strike action over the order.
The more than 200 workers – who investigate complaints about government departments, other public organisations and the NHS in England – are also taking action over a pay claim and a change in working conditions.
The union claimed that the poorly paid staff can work just as effectively from home without having to waste money out of their wages on travelling to the office. They voted with an 81 per cent majority for strike action with a turnout of 67 per cent.
Fran Heathcote, the PCS general secretary, said: “Low and stagnating pay is a real issue for our members at the PHSO. It’s exacerbated by people having to pay to commute to the office when they can save money and time by working from home just as effectively, if not more effectively.
“Managers can resolve this dispute if they are prepared to talk to us and be flexible. If they continue to ignore us, then strike action is inevitable.”
Resistance over return to the office
They are the latest workers to take industrial action over what the PCS claim are the Government’s “arbitrary” directives to return to the office.
Scotland Yard faces the first staff strike in its history next month as 300 staff who log crimes and vet officers will walk out in an escalating row over the right to work from home.
Hundreds of police staff, including PCSOs and child protection experts, are refusing to come back into the office in an ongoing industrial dispute after being told they could not continue to work from home all the time.
Staff at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have voted to strike in protest at plans requiring them to be in the office for at least 40 per cent of the working week.
Land Registry staff have voted to go on strike after bosses told them to go back to their offices for three days a week.
The PCS is also campaigning for a four-day week at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Separately, security guards at a number of museums in London will stage a month-long strike in an escalating dispute over pay and conditions.
About 100 members of the United Voices of the World (UVW) union at the Science Museum, Natural History Museum and Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum will walk out for the whole of February.
The union said the action is unprecedented and will make it the longest strike in the history of all three institutions.
The workers, who are outsourced to a private contractor, are campaigning for a pay rise, improved sick pay and full parity with directly employed museum staff, including more annual leave and an annual bonus.
Petros Elia, the UVW general secretary, said: “This historic month-long strike action shows the unwavering determination of the security guards at the Natural History Museum, Science Museum and V&A to achieve dignity and equality at work.”
A PHSO spokesperson said: “A recent review of our hybrid working practice found it delivers an efficient and productive public service while supporting employee wellbeing and promoting a positive work-life balance.
“We offer a generous pay and benefits package, which includes 30 days annual leave for full time staff, and pay that is in-line with the Civil Service.
“Our important public service will continue to look into people’s complaints and help them access the justice they deserve.”
A Government spokesman said: “We are not considering a four day working week, or a change to the current office attendance guidance – which expects that the majority of Civil Servants will be in the office for at least 60 per cent of the week.
“Our entire focus is delivering the priorities of working people which are set out in the government’s Plan for Change.”