Civil servants threaten strike

Ten government departments could be affected

More than 100,000 civil servants could strike over 'dreadfully' low levels of pay.

A one-day national strike is being considered for the first time in more than 10 years by the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS).

Employers are expected to offer a 3.7% pay rise, which is likely to be rejected by many PCS members, it said.

The union claimed the government has imposed a central wage "capping" system which made negotiations impossible, although this has been strongly denied by the Treasury.

The PCS general secretary, Mark Serwotka, said national strikes - involving 10 government departments and up to 112,000 staff - would be used only as a last resort.

Mr Serwotka told BBC Radio 4's Today programme a quarter of Britain's civil service earned under £13,000 a year.

And 10,000 people working for the Department of Work and Pensions earned under £10,000.

'Last resort'

"The situation in the civil service at the moment is pretty dreadful," he said.

"Our members do an extraordinarily difficult job delivering all the government's key programmes across the country and are often undervalued."

He said the Treasury was restricting pay offers managers could make.

"What we're saying is we want negotiations. We will only consider industrial action as a last resort."

Serwotka said strike action would only be used as a last resort

A Treasury spokeswoman said: "The Treasury has not called for a limit on civil service pay. There is no truth in this statement.

"Under a 1997 agreement, individual departments take full responsibility for their own pay systems."

But she did call for "responsibility in pay bargaining" to ensure funding was used to improve public services.

Martin O'Neill, the chairman of the trade and industry committee, said he was hopeful an improved pay deal could be reached without the need for strikes.

He told Today: "It's a picture which is common across the public services.

"In the health service and local government this position has prevailed, although there the unions have been able to negotiate new pay deals.

'Vulnerable people'

"There is a way forward if the union is able to do the necessary negotiation."

Shadow trade and industry secretary Tim Yeo said the dispute was part of a "worrying trend" which he blamed on the government.

"Under Labour the balance between employers and unions has been tilted heavily in favour of union bosses and as a result we are seeing industrial unrest across the economy."

Mr Yeo said his first concern was for the millions of "vulnerable people dependent on our public services" who could be hit hard by any strike action.

"It is simply unacceptable that elderly people and others who are dependent on social services should be made to suffer as a result of a dispute in Whitehall," he said.

Anger

The government is facing further problems with the unions, with thousands of manufacturing workers set to demonstrate against its economic policies at next month's Labour party annual conference.

Union officials said anger at what is perceived as the government's failure to support manufacturing and to take job protection measures seen in other EU countries was behind the action.

Some 2,500 protesters, drawn from major companies across the UK, are expected to take part in the protest in Bournemouth.

Joint general secretary of Amicus, Derek Simpson, said: "There has been a net loss of 10,000 jobs in British manufacturing every month since 1997.

"At this rate there will be nothing left but brownfield sites for housing developments.

"We are taking our arguments over the crisis in manufacturing with 2,500 voices in the hope that the government will listen."