Civil servants - will you be striking on 1st Feb?

[Iamnotausername]

I know you probably can't say what dept you are in but will you be striking?

I will.

We were balloted but didn’t reach the threshold. Had an email about a further ballot so we’ll see. Yes, I’ll go out if we do.

Yes. We won't get 10% but maybe a fairer distribution of the money available would be nice, instead of HEO upwards getting higher and higher percentages.

Not a civil servant, but I fully support the strike. The civil service, like most of the public sector, has been shafted on pay for years. And overall cuts in numbers in some departments is really putting staff under pressure. Staff shortages are significant in many areas.

The waiting time for processing benefit claims is ridiculous, and the wait for hearings at tribunals is even worse; our local prison is massively understaffed, the CPS is creaking under the strain and the delay in getting people before the courts is growing ever longer, which is awful for victims and witnesses.

It's in all our interests to have efficiently functioning public services and at the moment it's dire.

Like Scotlands independence. Didn’t get the result? Best of 3? If it’s the one I think it is I am shocked they didn’t meet the threshold.

I’m not sure which you’re thinking of but I’m quite surprised it didn’t happen.

In our agency it's below HEO who've had the largest raise. Last year they got a raise whilst everyone else got 0.

No, I won't be. I'm not a member of the PCS and I don't think public sector employees should strike.

I don't think many people in the policy part of my Department will strike either.

Agree @Jimhendersonsrelish HEO and below got a better pay offer than higher grades here too.

I don't believe my agency is striking, personally it's less about the money for me and as someone has previously said for me it's the staff freezes, not being able to fill other empty posts and massacres to the staff team sizes that are running us to the ground. If we were a full cohort of staff I think I'd feel adequately compensated, as it is doing the jobs of 2-3 people is just relentless and impossible to sustain.

@Theopossumwasmeantforme

that depends on your dept, in mine it was weighted to HEO and under

@Iamnotausername
I think there are broadly two types of union members - those who are trade unionists because of political conviction, and those who join for the benefits and protection. Either is fine with me, I used to very active, now I’m just a paid up member.
By cherry picking what I mean is members shouldn’t expect to get the benefits and protection they get as an indvidual member, if they are not prepared to stand with their colleagues when push comes to shove.
I didnt vote, but will abide by the decision, I may even stand on the picket line as I have done in the past.
If I don’t strike then I should resign my membership.

Yes, I will be.

Will anyone care though? Will it make any real difference?

Ah no I wouldn't refuse to strike and I voted yes to the ballot. I am just not 100 per cent sure if my dept is actually summoned out but I think it is. Hopefully I will get definite confirmation nearer the time

No, I'm in one of the other unions and we haven't been balloted

Same here.

Not part of the union, but I sort support the cause

Yes. I'm so fed up. Not had a pay rise in effect for best part ten years. My pay is woeful for my level & experience

This is exactly why I’m not in a union
I don’t support any strikes
Unions were originally founded to get better deals - so if you worked in the glasgow ship yards and it was unsafe then there were unions to get safer working environments etc
Nowadays these conditions are covered by the HSE etc , there are minimum standards in working environments, temperatures etc
Why pay to be in a union ? It’s a waste of money ? All of these regulations are covered by UK law …
Unions are money grabbing entities
There are laws protecting workersThere are minimum wage policies
Unions are pointless in modern days

*PCS is campaigning is for a 10% pay rise, changes to pensions arrangements, job security and the abandonment of proposed cuts to redundancy terms."¥

Precisely what changes to pension arrangements are you asking for? I assume that you know, if you are striking over them.

Once this government has really got going with its plans to dismantle human rights and employment law you may find that the protections people took for granted and were hard fought for by unions don't exist any more.

Just go to work , work hard , no drama . We are all so protected these days , we live in a cocoon in western society ; we have minimum wages , benefits, the harder you fall the more you receive.

I don't think you understood the point I was making. Never mind.

Civil Servant here and I voted yes for strike action as I believe the role I do is underpaid for the responsibilities we have but 1st February is my non working day so not sure how that works!

@Iamthewombat the union calling for the strikes (PCS) has done research that suggests civil servants are overpaying into their pensions, so they want to address this: www.pensions-expert.com/Law-Regulation/Civil-servants-vote-for-strike-over-pensions?ct=true. Civil servants pay a specific set contribution into their pension and can’t choose how much they contribute.

I'm really interested in this. Pay, yes. We need to pay civil servants a decent wage if we want to attract talent into it. But pensions and letting people go? I thought both those were relatively good? My impression was that there was more job security in the civil service than most other places. Can anyone explain the pension stuff and job security piece?

Oh helpful. Cross posted with the person above who has explained the pensions bit. Thanks!