Prospect members in the Civil Service have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action

Strike action will take place on 15 March

Prospect members working across the public sector have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action over pay, threats of job losses, and proposed cuts to redundancy terms.

Members will take strike action on Wednesday 15 March. Action short of a strike, which will include working to contracted hours and overtime bans, will commence from Thursday 16 March. This is the largest industrial action Prospect has taken in more than a decade and every single area balloted cleared the 50% legal threshold.

80% of members overall voted in favour of strike action, while 92% voted in favour of action short of a strike. The overall turnout was 72%, well over the legal threshold of 50%.

The ballot closed on Friday 24 February and covers a large number of employers including the Met Office, Defence and Science Technology Laboratory (Dstl), Health and Safety Executive, Trinity House, Intellectual Property Office, Animal and Plant Health Agency, Natural England and UK Research and Innovation.

Prospect represents tens of thousands of specialist, technical, professional, managerial and scientific staff in the Civil Service.

Mike Clancy, General Secretary of Prospect, said:

“Our members in the public sector have seen their incomes decline by up to 26% over the past 13 years and their work taken for granted – they have had enough.

“Poor pay and declining morale represent an existential threat to the Civil Service’s ability to function, and to our ability to regulate and deliver on the government’s priorities.

“Bills are rocketing and pay is falling ever further behind the private sector leaving our members with no option but to take industrial action.

“We will continue our campaign until the government comes up with a meaningful offer. If it doesn’t do so soon, we may be left with no Civil Service to protect.”