The walkout affected job centres, benefit offices and the Child Support Agency.

Prison Service workers and employees at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) are also staging their own separate strikes.

The biggest walkout has affected the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) which is embroiled in a bitter row over pay which could end up in the courts.

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) claims many of its members are on "poverty pay".

Are civil servants right to strike?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

The following comments reflect the balance of the opinions we have received:

SUGGEST A DEBATE This topic was suggested by Adrian Davis, UK: I work in the Department of Work and Pensions. Civil Service senior management is not offering anything near reasonable pay so I am on strike. Do you support the striking civil servants? Send us your suggestions for Have Your Say debates

I would like to see the look on my bosses face if I said I wasn't coming to work for a few days because my pay rise wasn't big enough.
Chris, Maidnenhead

Is it not time to have official procedures in place everywhere to resolve work and pay disputes firstly within an organisation and if that fails an independent arbitration service? The cost of such a service would be but a fraction of the personal and national economic loss of strikes which are but a stone age response to a stone age dispute structure.
John M, Lyne Meads,UK

Wages/salaries for anyone employed by governments has always been a joke. Newly qualified nurses receive �16,000 after 3 years of training and enter a world where the level of responsibility is in no way matched by salary. With the Agenda for Change, the government tells us we can now look forward to 12.5% pay increase, over three years. Well woopdedoo!! Nurses should have gone on strike years ago, so good luck to the civil servants in their pursuit of a decent living wage.
Wendy Easterlow, UK

We have free movement of labour, very low unemployment, and nationwide skills shortages in this country. If you hate your job sufficiently to go on strike, why not resign instead and do something else?
John, England

I have no sympathy with these agents of the state

I have no sympathy with these agents of the state. I have had to suffer their interrogation and humiliation when I was unemployed.
anon

The bitter people on here that think working for the civil service is cushy when compared to their jobs in the 'real world' should ask themselves what's stopping them from joining the civil service if it's so much better? I'll tell you. It's probably the pay! And those that say "You knew the salary when you joined... Yes, but we didn't expect it's value to be eroded over many years because of inadequate pay progression. That clause never appeared on our contracts.
Paul H, London, UK

I am a civil servant and I am well off. This does not mean I am paid the going rate for the job. I am not. I would support any industrial action as a tool to rectify this. Being well off does not justify a lower reward for one's efforts.
David, UK

I work in an unemployment black spot in the last 6 months I have relocated 82 people from sickness benefit into work. 82 individuals claiming for themselves and their families (as is their right) saving the government �115,128 at least in benefit bills. I'm on strike I'd rather work on commission.
DWP worker, Wales

I am a full time civil servant, and I work extremely hard for the pittance I get paid. I can't afford to run a car, I can't afford nights out (and when I do go out, I can only afford to drink lemonade), I can't afford to replace my boots which are full of holes. I am behind on my council tax and, towards the end of the month, I walk for 45 minutes to get to work because I can no longer afford to pay the bus fare. Come and live my life before you tell me I am over paid.
DWP Staff, Dundee, Scotland

The salary they earn is a downright disgrace Pat, UK

They are definitely right to strike the salary they earn is a downright disgrace. At one time I myself wanted to work for the civil service until I saw the salary offered, they must have lost a good many people because of this.
Pat, UK

There is a lot of unfounded criticism of civil servants in this forum by people who just haven't got a clue as to the work we do and the abuse we take. I've worked in outside industry and have now been processing Income Support for 5 years and can tell anyone out there that it is by no mean a simple job. We have to interpret constantly changing legislation, deal with the business world's worst computer system as well as deal with all the swearing and threats that are a daily occurrence.
UWE, Blackpool

I am one of many DWP staff who has spent the last two days on picket lines. This pay award will bring my salary up to �10,850 per year. Many of my colleagues have to claim working families tax credit just to support their families. All this in country where the average wage is �25,000 per year and the EC decency threshold �15,000 per year. As for those who say we can be outsourced to India do they think they will be able to get as good a service as they do here?
James, Bootle, Merseyside

For those who advocate the free market or outsourcing, this is already done in parts of the public sector. The results? Take the example of a private security firm who allowed a convicted killer to escape from a Glasgow Court last week - and he's still at large. Is this the kind of service you really want, all for the sake of a few pennies off your tax bill?
Doug, Edinburgh, Scotland

After I was made redundant last year, I found that the people I had to deal with at the Job Centre and when claiming JSA were unhelpful and unfriendly. They even failed to process my initial claim correctly which resulted in the claim being rejected which lost me nearly six weeks worth of benefits. I did all the work in my job hunt (using the internet) and I was encouraged to apply for jobs outside my field simply because they existed on the job centre's system. In my experience the staff are overpaid not underpaid.
Mark E, England

To everyone moaning about civil servants being a burden on their taxes... civil servants pay tax too.
Fiona, Manchester, UK

The civil service should be privatised and then the market would pay for what they are worth. If they get more money then fine, if they get sacked then we'll know that many of those employed by the Civil Service are surplus to requirements. Let's get the free market working for everyone.
Tom, Oxford, UK

Let's get the free market working for everyone Tom, Oxford, UK

Blair has lost the faith of the Civil Service? All those years Labour spent promising to make things better ... they must have only meant for Labour MPs.
Ian, Brit in USA

Surely these people knew what wage they would be earning when they were offered the job and signed a contract?
JDC, Oxford, UK

The civil service in this country is a joke. As over-bureaucratic and under-productive it may be though, the problems lie with the minority of the administration who hold too much power and the employees underneath take the flak for it. I say good on them for standing up for their rights.
Darryl LeCount, UK/Germany

Everybody has the right to a fair wage. Senior management are saying that they are offering a 5% wage increase but 5% on 12,000 is only �600 a year. But 5% on a senior manager who earns around �40,000 is �2,000 - that a big difference. Even people who have a degree walk into some jobs only giving �16,000 - it comes down to being part of rip off Britain
Carl, UK

If, like some correspondents, you are in danger of losing your job, stressed out, do not have a permanent contract, get few holidays, or work long inflexible hours, then join a union and get fighting, instead of making mean and ignorant comments about your fellow workers!
Ian, Sheffield, UK

Join a union and get fighting Ian, Sheffield, UK

Can't we outsource all this to India?
Jon, Warrington

Is it a two day strike about pay or is it an excuse for an extra long Easter Break to add to their generous holiday allowance? Suspicious timing I think.
Graeme, Bristol, UK

I sympathise with the lowly-paid, e.g. the dole office worker who was trying to help me back into work, and she was getting a wage I wouldn't get out of bed for! Balanced against that, when I was working I paid in taxes what she grosses - and in return I had to take a 93% pay cut. Go figure!
Phil, UK

The Government puts the average pay at �14000, I work for social services as a care assistant and earn �10,900 and I can't strike as it will effect the people I work for in the learning disabilities sector of the community, yes people do care and are paid less for doing so
Chris Hannant, Bournemouth UK

I can't strike as it will effect the people I work for in the learning disabilities sector of the community Chris Hannant, Bournemouth UK

It's a sign of the times. As the income gap grows so will the dissent of the people. Government workers make up the largest work force. CEO's continue to generate large profits and pay less tax. If they want that to continue they will have to pay the people more so they can give it back through consumption.
Kevin, California, USA

I think every employee has right to fight his reasonable wage if they think their pay is out of proportion to their working time. If they do not disrupt the order of society - that is ok while the launch their strike to fight their right.
Adrain, Japan

It is a lie to suggest that Benefit claimants will not receive payments. The computer system was programmed weeks ago to send out payments either early for the bank Holidays or on time for the strike days. The claimants' money is not effected at all
Jobcentre Worker, Wales

Here in the US civil servants are cautious not to strike. The last thing they want is for us taxpayers to actually live life without their meddling. We might see how irrelevant they are.
Scott, USA

We might see how irrelevant they are Scott, USA

"Poverty pay"? I've travelled the world and seen REAL poverty - poverty is when you don't know where your next meal is coming from, not when you can only afford one car, 20 cigarettes a day and 3 nights a week down the pub!
Rob, UK

In the real world, job cuts are a way of life. My firm has lost 25% of it's workforce in the past two years (approx. 300 staff). The reaction is that people get on with it. The Public sector needs to modernise and become more accountable for it's expenditure.
Simon, Croydon, England

I almost fell off my chair laughing when I saw that the Office of National Statistics was on strike. Who cares? Can we survive without fatuous government statistics? I think most of us can just about get by.
James, Derby, England

The Public sector needs to modernise and become more accountable for it's expenditure Simon, Croydon, England

Its the power of the market economy. If you are underpaid, get a new job if you're so good! If there are people willing to except a pay level you set, you hire them. Get into the real world - and fight.
Jon, UK

Plenty of people are complaining that civil servants don't know when they're well off, and they should try the insecurity and poor wages of the de-unionised private sector. Maybe they're the ones who need to join a union and campaign for better working conditions. If their employer won't sack them for trying, that is.
Andre McIlroy, Sheffield

If you don't want to do a fairly simple job for a low wage go and find yourself a more demanding job for a better wage. Just don't come crying when you realise it doesn't have weeks of holidays and a bomb-proof pension.
Jon, UK

Day in, day out, I am either mentally or physically threatened by our customer base Richard, Bath

I work for the DWP and I am one of the lazy ungrateful civil servants who is striking. I bring home �220 per week after tax. Day in, day out, I am either mentally or physically threatened by our customer base. Do people not realise that we deal with the people who you choose to ignore in the street, or would cross over for fear of being abused. Civil servants did get great perks, but they have been taken away. We are paid poverty pay for doing a demanding and sometimes dangerous job. And to those who say try living on benefits. You are not working so you should get less. At least your rent, council tax and many other things are paid for which is more than can be said for me.
Richard, Bath

Civil servants get their index-linked pensions guaranteed for all time by the rest of - the taxpayer - while our own pensions (which we have to stump up for as well as theirs!) are in peril. Civil servants should keep quiet while they are still on to a good thing.
Rick, London

I don't often agree with strikers, but I've seen for myself how badly paid civil servants can be. A friend who has earned two promotions since joining the civil service is still paid considerably less than my wage as a technical support advisor.
Christy, Newcastle, UK

The strike isn't just about wages, despite the fact that the increase was forced upon them, it's about progression pay for years served.
David Jones, Notts

So, the Civil Servants went on strike...did we notice? No. These people don't know what it means to actually 'work' for a living. I suggest each 'civil servant' is required annually to work in a private company for at least two weeks every year, so they know what 'real work' actually involves.
Rich Wintie, Bournemouth, Dorset

Whatever happened to the time when people were thankful they had a regular job which they knew they could keep as long as they did well and that was their primary concern every work day.
Hugh, London, UK

Reading some of the comments on this site makes me wonder why I bother to work for a public that so obviously despises me, who feel that they can abuse me but to whom I would have to be polite and deal with fairly if they came to me for assistance or information. "If it's so bad, then change your job." Just try it; most civil servants have been with the employer for a number of years and find that they get locked into a pension scheme, or are too old for most employers who just want to employ kids for the lowest wages they can get away with paying
Robert Day, Coventry, UK

Robert Day: Coventry, UK complains he cannot leave his job because he is "locked in to the pension scheme" and any way the pay in other jobs is too low. In other words the pension is too good for him to leave and other employers pay less than he gets at the moment. Remind us again Robert why exactly are you going on strike?
Al, London, UK

We have been left with no other alternative by management, but to strike Adrian Davis, Hastings,UK

My wife and I work for Department Of works and Pensions. Many Civil Servants are paid a wage so low that they have to claim the very benefits they are administering! Like most of my colleagues who are striking, we feel awful that the people who we help day in day out are going to suffer by us not being at work. But things have got so bad now, that we have been left with no other alternative by management, but to strike.

It's not only the issue of poverty pay, we are striking about, but the introduction of a discriminatory performance appraisal and pay system called the Performance and Development System (PDS). The introduction of the PDS performance appraisal and pay system includes a strictly regulated box marking system which predetermines that at least 50% of staff will be rated annually as poor irrespective of their individual performance! Is that an incentive to deliver excellent service?
Adrian Davis, Hastings,UK

100,000 people strike, anyone notice? Do you think we have to many
Graham, Durham

If your employer honours the terms of your contract you have no right to strike! If you simply don't like the money, then leave the job. Your employer - even if it is the government - is not a charity. A mass walkout is not a form of negotiation; it is an act of sabotage. You are greedy and selfish and you aren't fooling anyone.
Ray Gray, London, England

Amazing isn't it? 20 years ago, the country was in turmoil, words like civil war and anarchy were bandied about. Why? Because 20,000 miners were going to lose their jobs! Now, 20 years later 40,000 civil servants could lose their jobs, and nobody seems to care. Don't civil servants have families, mortgages, contribute to society? By the way, I have no axe to grind, I am not a civil servant, I am a (relatively) well paid IT worker; I just dislike double standards, especially from a Labour government.
Hugh Lavery, UK

Well I think that they do have the right to strike if they are not getting paid well - good on them.
Katie Allen, London, England

Absolutely! Just try living in London, on what they get paid! What's that old saying about paying peanuts? Anyway, as approximately one in three of the UK working population works for the government is it not surprising that it's somewhat inefficient? Perhaps Mr Blair's affordable housing scheme is an effort on his part to ease his employee's (civil servants) stress and prolonged inability to combat spiralling living costs on virtually Third World annual incomes? Of course, there are some fat cats but most of them are up the top anyway!
Ralph, Chelsea, London

My wife is a civil servant (DWP but not striking) and brings home horrific tales of inefficiencies in the workplace. Her view, to the chagrin of her colleagues, is that the work they are doing isn't exactly taxing (no pun intended) and isn't deserving of higher pay. Bearing in mind the benefits of working for the government (extra holidays, pension, flexi-time, job security) I think their pay is fair. To strike just shows a lack of respect to the taxpayer.
John, Sunderland, UK

Yes. They should strike. And it would be great to see them all strike all at the same time and for a couple of weeks at least. Then the uninformed nation would begin to see just how much the work of the civil servant affects their day-to-day life. Then would be a good time to be having this debate.
Joseph, UK

It seems to me everybody wants to grumble about everything these days - if it's that bad change your job and stop mucking everything up for the rest of us!
Mags, Oxford, UK

I work as a temp at DWP and I make enough money, but for people that work directly for the civil service, their pay is abominable. Some people earn less than �10.000 annually. I don't know how they survive. So, I agree, let them strike. Whether their voices will be heard by this government, I doubt it very much.
BH, London, UK

I work in the private sector, with low pay and little career prospects. A government employee or any employee should have the right to strike. We live in a democracy and the right to strike is one of the very few rights an employee has. I'm actually amazed by the civil servants' restraint!
Rob, Northfleet, UK

While there are some perks, I can't comment on holidays because what I get is pretty much in line with other people. However the pay is very low for what people in the civil service do, often dealing with very abusive members of the public. For those thinking we're getting paid enough try surviving on less than �10,000 a year.
Marc, Northampton, UK

To Marc from Northampton - try surviving on �54 a week Job Seekers Allowance, then see how 'hard done by' you are in your �10,000 a year job.
Dave, Doncaster, UK

If Dave from Doncaster is unhappy at only receiving �54.00 Job Seekers Allowance a week, perhaps he should consider getting a job? Or is it just easier sitting at home and waiting for his dole cheque to be delivered?
Liz, Wales

Marc from Northampton: why do you think that members of the public are abusive? Perhaps because they feel they are having to deal with parasites with great pensions funded by those who actually generate income?
Reid, Newbury, Berks, UK

Yes they should have the right to strike but first let's ensure less incompetence in the civil service.
John Allen, Oxford, UK

The time for unions, who call the shots in this country, has passed. Unions served their purpose many years ago when there were no laws protecting employee rights. Today, laws are in place which stop companies or government agencies from ignoring employee rights and low pay. So why do we still need unions? I am getting sick and tired of hearing about strikes, whether public sector or private. Nobody should be allowed to strike, much less civil servants.
Lee, Bicester, UK

I work for the DWP alongside colleagues who are employed by the Inland Revenue. We all do similar jobs but there is a vast difference in the pay scales between DWP and the Inland Revenue. In fact many people are transferring to the Inland Revenue to be paid a better wage, therefore the DWP are losing key staff. In fact my pay rise under the DWP-imposed pay review makes me �1 better off a week. Maybe I can use this to win the lottery and forget about poor pay?
Steve G, Newcastle, UK

Of course they are not right to strike, they should have no right to strike. As a burdened taxpayer, I believe there are far too many civil servants just waiting for more handouts. The whole lot should be outsourced.
Stuart, Romford, UK

If the public sector wasn't so overstaffed the people actually doing the work could get a better salary for doing it John B, UK

If the public sector wasn't so overstaffed to the point of bloatedness the people actually doing the work could get a better salary for doing it. Of course that would mean unproductive members of staff being laid off so the unions probably wouldn't go for that option either. As for them being on strike (again), I can't say I've noticed any difference.
John B, UK

I thought I worked for a safe employer in a safe industry. Last week we found out the 10% of our workforce here will be made redundant. This does not happen in the civil service. If civil servants don't like the pay, they should get a job in the open market. They may get paid more, but are they prepared to take the risk ?
Doug, Glasgow, Scotland

Doug in Glasgow's comment that mass redundancies don't happen in the civil service is a little naive, given that the government is about to axe almost 50,000 of them.
Alex M, London

They should think themselves lucky to have a job they can strike from. I was made redundant last October and I still haven't been able to get a job. Also, the way I am treated at the so-called "Job Centre" does not engender any sympathy for their "plight".
Paul, Milton Keynes, England

To "Doug, Glasgow, Scotland" - try keeping up with current affairs and review the Chancellors budget speech in which he disclosed large layoffs for the civil service - the civil service is becoming as accountable as any large private sector organisation!
Mike Davies, Wales, UK

Is anyone really going to notice the difference? I'm a temp in local government, and they think they work hard. I sometimes wonder how those in my office would cope in the real world.
JB, London, UK

I fail to understand why they are on strike at all Frederick Copley, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

Civil servants are already very well paid and enjoy excellent working conditions and holidays. I therefore fail to understand why they are on strike at all. The same applies to teachers who enjoy even better working conditions, are very highly paid and enjoy about six months of paid holiday each year. How teachers can even dream of going on strike is a complete mystery to me.
Frederick Copley, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

Pay rises for civil servants can only be met by increased taxes on all. Civil servants - whatever they might say about helping get people into productive jobs - are part of the unproductive side of the economy which, like in the 1970s, has become a dead weight on the rest. So sorry, no more money, get back to work (and pensions - lucky you).
Bob, Kingston, UK

Why should I care about civil servants I have zero contact with? As an employed taxpayer I get no direct benefit from these people except to see them handing out vast sums of my money to the unworthy. Let them strike, withhold their pay and save me some money.
Martin, England

My girlfriend is a civil servant, and while her pay isn't great her benefits are. Flexi-time, and twice as much holidays as regular company employees like myself. If they aren't happy, they should get a new job and see what it's like to work in the real world.
Mark, Aberdeen