THREE-QUARTERS of a million public sector workers will take strike action against government attacks on their pensions on Thursday 30th June, it was confirmed yesterday.
The result of the PCS civil servants union strike ballot showed a massive two-to-one vote in favour.
In its national strike ballot, 61.1 per cent of the PCS’s members who took part voted for a strike and 83.6 per cent voted for other forms of industrial action, on a 32.4 per cent turnout.
Announcing the result, PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka said: ‘We have now agreed to call a one-day national strike on 30th June, meaning there will be a quarter of a million civil servants and public sector workers joining the half a million teachers and lecturers who confirmed yesterday that they will be taking industrial action.
‘It’s very important to stress that our members are taking this action because a hundred thousand of them face losing their jobs, all of them have a two-year pay freeze while inflation is at five per cent, meaning cuts in living standards for very low paid workers.
‘And on pensions they face working years longer, paying thousands of pounds more and having their pensions slashed, in some cases by hundreds of thousands of pounds over the period of their retirement.
‘Our action is not just about one day on 30th June, the ballot mandate from our members is that we will take national strikes with other unions and we believe that this will be the first of a number of those.
‘But there will also be extended strike action in government departments in response to cuts in jobs if members believe that that is the best way to defend themselves.’
He continued: ‘Francis Maude this morning told people that civil servants on low pay would have a pension pot of half a million pounds, he didn’t tell people that they would have to live to 105 to get it.’
Serwotka added: ‘We will see three quarters of a million striking on 30th June, it looks like three or four million in October, if the government doesn’t change direction.’
In response to Maude attacking the strike vote whilst the PCS and other unions are continuing talks with the government, Serwotka added: ‘These talks are a farce. They are a farce because the government is not serious about reaching an agreement.’
He said there would be widespread strike action in the autumn, saying: ‘The leaders of Unison, Britain’s biggest public sector union, have said they are moving towards balloting a million workers in health and local government.
‘We are already talking to Unite, Britain’s biggest union, about joint action in the autumn, as well as many public sector unions.
‘So the government ought to understand, this is going to grow and grow.’
Asked about the government’s threat to illegalise strike action, Serwotka added: ‘If the government goes down that route I think they will regret it. I think it is more likely that people will decide they are going to take action anyway.’
The NUT National Executive also unanimously endorsed the union’s national strike action over pensions on June 30 yesterday, following Tuesday’s announcement of a 92 per cent vote in favour of strike action.
NUT General Secretary Christine Blower said: ‘The simple truth is that many teachers cannot afford a 50 per cent increase in their pension contributions.’
