Prospect members in public services move to strike ballot after overwhelming indicative vote  

Prospect members in the civil service and its agencies have indicated in strong terms that they support industrial action over pay (and the Cabinet Office “cap” of 3% on pay offers), threats of job losses and a proposed cut to redundancy terms.

Prospect balloted members in all of its branches covered by Cabinet Office pay remit guidance. Overall turnout was high with the vast majority of our branches meeting the 50% threshold. 93% of those who voted did so in favour of industrial action short of a strike, with 80% voting in favour of strike action. There were particularly strong results in HSE, IPO, APHA, DSTL and the Met Office. This is the first time Prospect has held such a ballot on industrial action across a range of public sector employers since the 2011 pensions dispute.

Prospect is now writing to Minister for the Cabinet Office Jeremy Quin demanding improvements to the pay offer and the abandonment of the plans to cut redundancy terms. If there is no movement from the government then Prospect will move to formal ballots early in the New Year.

Mike Clancy, General Secretary of Prospect, said:

“This is a workforce that has been pushed too far. Industrial action is always a last resort, but staff have had enough of their hard work being taken for granted while their living standards have been under sustained attack for more than a decade.

“Ministers need to act. They must lift the 3% cap on the offers employers are able to make to allow meaningful negotiations to take place, and they must abandon their plans to slash redundancy terms. If they don’t, we will be moving to formal ballots which our members have shown they will support. We are prepared to do whatever it takes to get a fair deal for our members.”