| A postal ballot of 100,000 members of the PCS found 61.3% in favour of a one-day stoppage on January 31, followed by an overtime ban lasting two weeks.
The union’s Scottish Secretary, Eddie Reilly, today claimed it was a mandate for further action in the union’s campaign against the Government’s programme of civil service job cuts.
“The clear majority in this ballot gives authority for not just a one-day strike but for a sustained campaign of strike action and action short of a strike,” he said.
The union’s campaign, “Ripping the Heart Out’’, opposes the Government’s plans to cut 100,000 posts in the civil and public service and the January 31 strike has been timed to coincide with the final deadline day for annual tax returns, usually one of the busiest spells for Revenue and Customs offices.
Around 1000 PCS members based in Revenue and Customs offices at Sidlaw House and Caledonian House, in Dundee, and the chief office in Perth, are likely to support the action, with a further 1000 in the Department of Work and Pensions offices throughout Tayside, affecting job centres and social security offices.
Industrial action will also impact government departments, agencies and non-departmental public bodies, including, passports, driving exams, Ministry of Defence, courts service and national museums and galleries, and will also include Scottish Executive departments and agencies.
The action is in response to plans drawn up by Revenue and Customs which signal office closures and a further 12,500 job cuts on top of the current drive that already aims at cuts of 12,500 jobs. The PCS believes additional job cuts above those already planned will follow. |
