U.K.
Members of the PCS civil service union in the Department for Work and Pensions have voted for strike action over pay in response to employer proposals for a three-year pay deal worth only 1% a year. The agreement would also mean that around 40% of the Department's workers wouldn't get any pay increase in 2008. This dispute is separate from the national civil service dispute over pay and jobs about which the government and the union are currently negotiating.
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PCS, the main civil service union, reports that around a third of its members in different government departments are currently voting on industrial action in response to a range of threats to jobs and working conditions as pressure mounts from public sector spending cuts. The union may also ballot for national industrial action over cuts and proposed changes to public sector pensions. This could be co-ordinated with other public sector unions. Read more at > PCS (EN)
Members of the PCS civil service union have voted with a 63.4% majority for strike action over government changes to the redundancy compensation scheme. A 48-hour strike on 8-9 March could be followed by further action. The union says that the changes to the scheme could mean some civil servants losing up to a third of the potential compensation they would have received under the current scheme if they lose their job. PCS is the biggest union in the civil service. Other civil services have decided to accept changes to the scheme following negotiations over the original proposals. [Read more at