Hundreds of workers at the DVLA are to go on strike for the third time today in a long-running dispute over Coronavirus related safety measures.
Members of the Public and Commercial Services union at the DVLA site in Swansea will go on strike between Wednesday, June 2, until Saturday, June 5.
Workers voted in favour of a strike earlier this year after the office was dubbed as having the '"worst workplace Covid outbreak in the UK".
Last year, some 560 employees tested positive for the virus at the Swansea office. Despite the government urging people to work from home where possible, more than 2,000 staff were going into the workplace every day.
Members of the 6,000-strong staff have revealed they felt "scared" to go to work and speak out against unhygienic conditions and lack of social distancing at the site, which had as many as 100 people working together on the same floor.
One employee also died during the same period and it's thought that came after testing positive for Covid-19 – prompting calls for a full investigation to take place.
This is the third strike by workers since the action was agreed in March. Staff walked out in April and May this year in the dispute over coronavirus safety measures.
The agency has a 6,000-strong workforce but during the pandemic staffing numbers at the site have varied with 1,500 people working from home at the beginning of the crisis.
The DVLA say that there are currently zero positive cases among the workforce.
In April, the DVLA has indicated that there were 2,200 people home working and that only those who are unable to work from home are still on site.
The union warned it was entering a new phase of "sustained and targeted" industrial unrest for months to come.
The DVLA insists it has done everything possible to keep workers safe and has followed official guidelines.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said a deal was all but agreed to end the dispute, claiming it was suddenly withdrawn at the 11th hour without any explanation.
He said: "Through painstaking negotiation, our union and DVLA senior management were on the verge of agreeing a deal only for it to be scuppered at the last minute.
"We strongly suspect senior ministers at the Department for Transport have interfered with the progress we were making and want to make some kind of ideological stand against PCS.
"They have grossly underestimated the resolve of our members in DVLA and have only emboldened them to take targeted and sustained action in the months ahead until they win.
"PCS is fully prepared for months of strike action, and we urge the Government to rethink its position."
A DVLA spokesperson said: “It’s disappointing to see the Public and Commercial Services Union not only choose to continue with industrial action when there are zero Covid cases at DVLA, but they are also specifically targeting areas of the organisation that will have the greatest negative impact on the public, including some of the more vulnerable people in society, just as restrictions are starting to ease.
"The DVLA has worked closely with Public Health Wales along with Swansea Environmental Health and the Health and Safety Executive who have conducted regular site visits and inspections and have repeatedly confirmed a high level of compliance with control measures.
“Millions of people right across the UK are relying on essential DVLA services and PCS’s demands will cause significant and unnecessary disruption to families and businesses, all at a time when they are most needed.”
