Prospect members across the Civil Service striking today

Members of Prospect union working in the Civil Service are taking a second day of strike action today (10 May) in a dispute over pay, job losses and redundancy terms. This follows a previous strike on 15 March.

In addition to the strike action, workers have been taking action short of a strike continuously since 16 March, including working to rule and an overtime ban. This is the largest industrial action Prospect has taken in more than a decade.

This second day of strike action follows the refusal of the government to enter negotiations to resolve the current pay and conditions dispute, having instead imposed a pay control of 4.5% which will further erode living standards, with inflation running at 10.1%. This leaves civil servants with some of the worst pay settlements in the public sector this year.

Members’ pay has declined by up to 26% since 2010 in real terms.

Prospect represents tens of thousands of specialist, technical, professional, managerial and scientific staff in the Civil Service. Members work at a wide range of employers, including the Met Office, Health and Safety Executive, Trinity House, Intellectual Property Office, Animal and Plant Health Agency, Natural England and UK Research and Innovation. They are among around 40 organisations where action will be taking place.

Mike Clancy, General Secretary of Prospect, said:

“Our members working across the Civil Service provide a vital service to the country, but they are being singled out by a government intent on leaving its own workers at the back of the pay queue.

“Why is this government treating its employees worse than anyone else in the public sector?

“For months we have been pressing ministers to put forward a serious offer that recognises the cost-of-living crisis facing our members. But instead of coming to the negotiating table, the government has published a pay control of 4.5% for 2023-24 – with nothing on the table for last year.

“This industrial action was entirely avoidable, but the failure by government to make a comparable offer to elsewhere in the public sector has made it inevitable.”