 The Prison Service could be still hit by strikes |
A planned walkout by civil servants in the Department of Work and Pensions has been postponed for at least two weeks. The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union took the step following progress in pay talks with management.
Up to 86,000 PCS members were due to walk out on Thursday bringing disruption to job centres, the Pensions Service and the Child Support Agency.
PCS members in the Prison Service, courts, Home Office and Treasury Solicitors are still due to strike on Thursday.
"We took the decision to postpone action for two weeks to allow time for constructive dialogue between ourselves and management," a PCS spokesperson told BBC news online.
Anger
Nevertheless, the action planned for Thursday could involve up to 20,000 members.
The action threatens to disrupt the transfer of prisoners, court proceedings, the immigration service and the Treasury Solicitors Office.
Workers have been angered by a series of pay offers across the civil service.
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 strike will be followed by other forms of action.
It will be followed by a campaign of overtime bans and working to rule aimed at disrupting work in the departments.
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