A national strike involving more than 250,000 civil servants will go ahead, following a resounding ballot in favour of action over the government's "slash and burn" approach to public services, which will see one in five civil service posts axed.
Over 70,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union voted for the strike in response to the chancellor's announcement in the July spending review that he planned to cut 100,000 civil service jobs following the Gershon efficiency review.
Of the 265,000 union members balloted, just over one quarter voted for the strike, scheduled for November 5, with about 100,000 voting.
Services across the UK will be affected, ranging from Jobcentres and benefit offices, to tax credit administration, tax collection and customs and excise. The strike will represent the biggest industrial action taken by the union in over a decade.
The union claims the strike has also been fuelled by a growing number of threats to the civil service workforce: plans to relocate 20,000 civil servants out of London and the south-east following the Lyons relocation review; changes to terms and conditions of employment; proposals over sickness absence arrangements and the prospect of working up to 65.
The general secretary of the PCS, Mark Serwotka, said that his members were taking a stand for public services.
"It is a stand, which says they won't tolerate the government's slash and burn approach to public services, services that everybody relies on from cradle to the grave," he said.
"The people going on strike on November 5 aren't faceless bureaucrats, but people providing essential services that are consistently taken for granted. They are people who face massive uncertainty about their jobs and the prospect of having to work five more years to receive their pension."
