The Civil and Commercial Services (PCS) union announced on Thursday that the threshold for strike action had been reached in 126 public sector workplaces, covering 100,000 workers. It represents public servants working in Whitehall, or in frontline services such as jobcentres, and had 150,000 members voted. PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “The government needs to look at the massive strike vote in parts of the public service and realize it can no longer treat its workers with contempt. “Our members have spoken and if the Government does not listen, we will have no choice but to embark on a protracted program of industrial action that will touch every corner of public life.” The civil servants will join the nurses, who have already endorsed the positions on a ballot. Teachers are also in the process of voting on possible strikes in the new year, while Unison is polling more than 300,000 NHS workers. With inflation at 10.1% and many public sector workers suffering a decade of wage restraint, the stage is set for a fierce confrontation. The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, is expected to mark just 2% public sector pay rises in his state of the economy next week, despite an outcry from unions, who say the cost of living crisis is hitting their members hard. The Treasury says final decisions will be left to individual departments, but ministers are unlikely to sign up to more generous deals unless Hunt is willing to fund them. Serwotka previously suggested his members take concerted action, side by side with workers from other industries who will be striking in the coming months. Recent research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies showed that average public sector wages are 4% lower in real terms than they were 15 years ago – compared to a 0.9% decline in the private sector. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Some public sector employers have said stagnant wages are contributing to recruitment and retention challenges. Strikes by rail workers represented by the RMT union were called off at the last minute last weekend amid what they described as an offer of “intense” talks over pay and working conditions. It is unclear whether the arrival of a new transport secretary, Mark Harper, has helped to resolve the long-running dispute. Harper’s predecessor, Grant Shapps, had been accused by unions and the Labor Party of blocking any progress.
