The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) said the strike over plans to reduce redundancy payouts saw more than 200,000 public sector workers refusing to cross picket lines, reports The Guardian.
The union said that those on strike on 8 March 2010 included some 999 operators at the Metropolitan Police Service, more than 3,200 staff at HMRC in Longbenton and 660 of the 700 staff at the same organisation's contact centre in Dundee.
It added that around 1,000 PCS members working for HP Enterprise Services were also taking part in a separate two-day strike over pay freezes and job losses, including those working on contracts for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in Newcastle, Washington, Preston and near Blackpool.
But the government said its own monitoring suggests only 80,000 of the 270,000 PCS civil service members are taking part. Four out of the five civil service unions accepted a compensation deal last month.
The strike is over plans to reduce payouts for civil servants made redundant in order to save £500m over three years. The government insists it has already compromised with unions to protect low-paid workers and preserve their higher payouts. But the unions say their members still stand to lose thousands of pounds and that the deal is part of moves to make it cheaper to sack people as the government tries to reduce the wage bill.
Mark Serwotka, the PCS general secretary, said: "The government needs to stop burying its head in the sand and wake up to the scale of anger that has been generated by their plans to cut jobs on the cheap.
"Loyal civil servants face losing tens of thousands of pounds if they are forced out of their jobs. The government is tearing up their contracts in front of their eyes, yet claims it can do nothing about bankers' bonuses because of contractual obligations."
Tessa Jowell, the Cabinet Office minister, said: "More than 70% of PCS members have decided not to take part in today's action. This means that 85% of all civil servants are working as normal today. Across the country services to the public are largely unaffected – all job centres and benefits offices are open, border entry points are working normally and court services are being maintained."
Staff
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