Met staff strike suspended for new pay offer vote

Metropolitan Police staff have suspended their strike ahead of a vote on a new pay offer.

The planned strike from 19 to 24 January was due to involve 175 members of the Unite union, including call handlers who record crime reports and technicians and office staff who help service and dispatch police vehicles.

The union said talks with the force had resulted in "an improved pay offer" and members would be invited to vote on it.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union said its 6,800 members had also paused their planned single day of strike action on 15 January, following an improved offer from the force.

PCS members include 999 call handlers, detention officers and police community support officers, as well as people working in vetting, intelligence, forensics, counterterrorism and HR.

Members will be balloted over the new offer from the Met Police.

It follows a strike by PCS members on Bonfire Night last year over a London allowance of £1,250 that was unavailable for police staff.

Unite regional officer Keith Henderson said there had been a "breakthrough in negotiations" and the union had agreed to suspend its upcoming strike action to allow its members to vote on the proposal.

Unite previously said police staff on the force had been offered "an inferior pay increase" compared to the 4.2% increase that other staff and officers in UK police forces had received.

Union members rejected two provisional offers - a below-RPI pay increase of 3.8% and a 4.2% offer, which Unite said was conditional on workers relinquishing their current terms and conditions.

The Met denied this and said it had asked that some terms and conditions be "modernised" so they were consistent and fair across the organisation.

A spokesperson for the Met Police previously said the force was "open to finding a solution".

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