The local members joined up to 270,000 civil and public servants from across the UK in a national strike in protest at Government plans to cut their terms and conditions.

The Government intends to remove redundancy payment guarantees from a long-established scheme — a move the union believes could lead to staff receiving as much as one-third less in redundancy payments.

HM Revenue and Customs group executive member Hamish Drummond said, “So far, based upon the reports across the city, we have seen upwards of 90% of our members taking part in the strike action,” he said.

“The strong numbers reflect the strength of feeling among members on the issue. There are pickets outside all the major public offices in the city. Across Tayside there is in the region of 1700 taking part, although reports are still coming in.”

The union fear the cuts would mean the Government could cut as many as 100,000 jobs on the cheap.

“The cuts the Government is currently talking about will ultimately make it cheaper to put people out of work.”

He added, “These cuts are also perceived to be the first attack on terms and conditions of contracts for those working in the public sector.

“It wasn’t our members that caused the recession, but it is our members who are now having to pay for it, something which is both morally and economically untenable,” he added.

Dundee Pension Centre branch secretary Phil Reilly said, “The strike is going to affect services quite substantially today and tomorrow.

“The object of the action is to cause maximum effect with minimum disruption.

“We will see what happens after the 48-hour strike, but if the Government doesn’t come back to the negotiating table, there are plans for further action throughout March.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Work and Pensions said today it was too early to judge how the strike had affected their offices in the area.

“We will do everything to keep our services running as best we can,” she said. “Where possible job centres will be open.”

All workers at Dundee’s Employment Tribunals Office took part in the walkout, leaving a single member of staff from Glasgow covering the office.

However, it’s understood that the two hearings scheduled for today went ahead as planned.

A Scottish Courts Service (SCS) spokeswoman said around 26% of their staff across the country took part in today’s action.

She added that all courts were open in Tayside, Central and Fife, although there may have been some restriction in service on public counters.

Around 60 members of the public and commercial services union forsook their lunch hour to attend the union rally in Dundee City Square.

Union members heard from Jim Malone, of the Fire Brigade’s Union, Jim McFarlane, of the Dundee branch of Unison, and Stewart Fairweather, of the Unite union, as well as Hamish Drummond, member of Union Executive of the HMRC Union.

Commenting on today’s strike action, Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said, ““The Government needs to recognise that slashing entitlements and cutting jobs on the cheap will damage public services and reach an agreement that protects existing members’ entitlements.”