PCS union announce 100,000 civil servants will strike on Budget Day

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The PCS union has said the strike action is part of wider coordinated strike action

The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) has said  around 100,000 civil servants will strike on Budget Day 2023 - which is March 15. The union has said this is the latest in their ongoing dispute with employers.

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The strike will coincide with Budget Day, which is the day when the 2023 Spring Budget will be announced by chancellor Jeremy Hunt. This is the day when the chancellor will outline the proposals for taxation and financial plans to the House of Commons for the year ahead.

The union said this is in response to the lack of movement from the government on their demands on pay, pensions and job security. Civil servants from over 120 government departments will take part in the strike. The union represents members from departments including Ofsted, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the DVLA and Border Force.

The strike on March 15 is the latest in the union’s efforts which has also seen them take targeted action. The targeted action has taken place in areas including Border Force, DVLA, DVSA, DWP and Rural Payments Agency.

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The PCS also led an all-member strike on February 1 which the union said was brilliantly supported. There were more picket lines than ever before – 500 in total – and some were in areas that have previously not had organised pickets.

The second wave of targeted action gets underway in the DWP in Liverpool, Bolton and Stockport this week, and over the course of the next month will involve members at the British Museum, DVLA, Animal and Plant Health Agency and Border Force. Find out who is striking when.

The government has previously given pay rise offers of 2% and 3% to the union. These were both rejected by the PCS with the union calling for a 10% pay rise.

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Jeremy Hunt   will set out a Spring Budget on March 15 2023Jeremy Hunt   will set out a Spring Budget on March 15 2023
Jeremy Hunt will set out a Spring Budget on March 15 2023

Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS, said that members were “suffering” due to the decline in pay. He said: "suffering a completely unacceptable decline in their pay". Rishi Sunak doesn’t seem to understand that the more he ignores our members’ demands for a pay rise to get them through the cost-of-living crisis, the angrier and more determined he makes them."

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