A confidential Whitehall document obtained by the Guardian reveals the extent of cash incentives offered to employees to undermine support for a dispute over the removal of protective screens.
Staff agreeing to move to sites hit by industrial action are paid an extra £14.22 a day subsistence allowance "for as long as the emergency lasts" - equivalent to £71.10 a week - to defy the strikes.
An overnight allowance of £35 a night is also paid in addition to travelling time, an hour's reduction in the working week and a weekend over time rate of time-and-a-half plus a day off in lieu.
The extensive strike-breaking package being operated by managers emerged only hours after Tony Blair had told union leaders he hoped an agreement could be reached to settle the dispute.
The prime minister used a rare meeting in No 10 with the Council of Civil Service Unions to stress that partnership was the way forward to improve public services.
But the 11-page document, dated October 19, suggests that the government is determined to face down the unions in a dispute that has already seen as many as 2,400 staff walk out in 57 offices from Aberdeen to Exeter.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary-elect of PCS, the biggest civil service union, said: "We called for talks 10 days ago and heard nothing. We now know that a plan was being implemented to encourage strike breaking.
"These are the worst private sector tactics of 10 and 20 years ago, not the spirit of partnership and constructive dialogue that new Labour professes to believe in."
But Alistair Darling, secretary of state for work and pensions, said: "It is absolutely essential that we do all we can. Millions of vulnerable people depend on us. Hundreds of thousands would be left without money if we don't do all we can because of the PCS strike action. No responsible minister or government could tolerate that."
A Department of Work and Pensions spokesman said the allowances were standard rates. But managers were instructed in the memo to give staff involved "oral advice" on the expenses that could be claimed instead of publishing the details.
Strike-breakers agreeing to travel to London were initially put up in the £123-a-night Russell Hotel in Russell Square, but the cheaper £71 a night Swallow hotel in Kensington is now being used.
Protective screens are being removed from employment service and benefit agency offices as they are merged into single offices called "jobcentre plus".
Union leaders claim it will leave staff vulnerable to attack but the department maintains that they will be safer after CCTV cameras are installed and high-profile uniformed security staff posted inside.
