 The Prison Service could be hit by the strikes |
Tens of thousands of civil servants will stage a two-day strike next week after voting for industrial action over pay, unions have confirmed. Workers, including staff at job centres and benefit offices, will walk out on 29 and 30 January.
The strike will be the civil service's biggest for a decade and will be followed by other forms of action.
The Public and Commercial Services Union blamed a management "hell bent" on driving down pay.
General secretary Mark Serwotka said: "This is not a decision our members have taken lightly.
"Strike action is the absolute last resort but we have tried for the past six months to end appalling low pay rates in the civil service and the time has come for something to be done."
The union said the action - voted on across five government departments - would affect courts, immigration services, job centres and benefit offices.
It will be followed by a campaign of overtime bans and working to rule aimed at disrupting work in the departments.
Pay 'crisis'
Mr Serwotka said there was now a "crisis" over civil service pay rates and urged the government to seek immediate talks to avoid next week's action.
Earlier, the Department of Work and Pensions said striking would be inappropriate but plans were in place in minimise disruption to job centres, the Child Support Agency and pensions department.
The DWP said it had made a "substantial" offer - worth an average 5% - targeted towards more junior and less well-paid staff.
"Despite union suggestions, the department does not have any more money available to spend on salaries.
"We have a challenging programme of work to help some of the most disadvantaged people in the UK and need to ensure taxpayers' money is spent responsibly."
Government 'shame'
But Mr Serwotka insisted money was available.
He said thousands of workers earned less than �10,000 a year and more than 20,000 staff in the DWP had to claim the same benefits they administered, because of their low pay.
"We have an army of low-paid workers who have undergone change after change and not only are they not rewarded, they are facing pay cuts on their poverty pay levels.
"I hope government ministers feel shame-faced about this because they don't seem to have the slightest idea of how people are struggling to live on just �10,000 a year."
Thousands balloted
Workers in the Department for Work and Pensions, Home Office, Prison Service, Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Treasury Solicitors voted in separate ballots to take industrial action, with majorities ranging from 54% to 63%.
The union has served notice of next week's strike at the Prison Service and the DWP and officials have been meeting to decide whether staff in the other three departments should take part.
About 86,000 members at the Department for Work and Pensions, 4,500 Prisons Service staff and 150 at the Treasury Solicitors were balloted.
Some 8,500 Home Office employees and 7,000 staff at the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) were also asked.
One-Minute World News 
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
They have negotiated and negotiated and negotiated and there's nothing left to do but strike 
