PCS pay campaign
Our successful campaign of industrial action won an increased pay remit, £1500 cost-of-living payment and guarantees on redundancy terms. It also forced the Cabinet Office into a series of talks with PCS on pay and staffing.
In late 2022 and 2023 our industrial action, including targeted industrial action with specific groups of members, and three all-out one day strikes involving all members, led to an offer from the UK government with concessions on pay, redundancy terms and promises of further talks on pay and job security. The pay offer included a lump sum of £1500 and an increase in the headline pay remit figure from 2% to 4.5%, with an extra 0.5% for the lowest paid, for 2023/24.
View our timeline of strike action.
In August 2023 members voted to support the recommendation of our national executive committee to pause strike action apart from where employers were refusing to pay the £1,500 cost-of-living payment, to allow for pay talks to be held in departments, and to continue our campaign.
Talks with the Cabinet Office have taken place and we have now submitted our pay claim for 2024/2025.
Our pay demands for 2024/25 to the UK government include:
- a cost-of-living rise, plus pay restoration for previous years
- pay equality across departments on the best possible terms,
- a living wage of £15 a hour,
- London weighting provision of a minimum £5,000 a year,
- 35 days annual leave minimum,
- a significant shortening of the working week with no loss of pay.
Following a consultation of members between 20 February and 5 March the NEC decided to ballot members in 171 civil service and related areas for strike action. The ballot opened on Monday 18 March and closed on 13 May. Members in the Scottish Government Sector were not included in the ballot as they agreed a two-year pay deal last year.
The total percentage of members voting yes for strike action was 83.7% of those who voted. We achieved over 50% (the turnout required by law for strike action) in employers including DVSA, HM Land Registry, DEFRA, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and Rural Payments Agency. This means that in those areas we have a legal mandate to take strike action.
Read the ballot results in full.
We took our case on pensions to the Court of Appeal in February, which has now rejected our appeal. We are considering our next steps.
Donate to our strike fund to support PCS members taking action.