More than 130K civil servants to strike today as school heads balloted

Fresh strike chaos as more than 130K civil servants walk-out today while teachers prepare to hit picket lines again next week amid fears pupils will face disruption in Autumn as head teachers hold ballot

• Public and Commercial Services union members to strike in 132 departments 
• The RMT yesterday announced walk-outs on May 13, the day of Eurovision
• Members of National Association of Head Teachers to ballot over strike action

More than 130,000 civil servants will strike today as a wave of industrial action continues to sweep Britain.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) in 132 Government departments will walk out in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions – after tens of thousands of teachers forced schools to close by going on picket lines yesterday.

Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS, accused ministers of ‘bullying’ civil servants as it emerged that Health Secretary Steve Barclay has been accused of ‘bad behaviour’ towards staff in the Department of Health and Social Care. It comes after Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab dramatically quit when a probe found he had upset staff.

Meanwhile, teachers are set to strike on Tuesday, with fears growing that pupils face more disruption in the autumn term as head teachers are balloted on launching more walkouts then.

And the RMT has announced a new strike to coincide with the Eurovision Song Contest final in Liverpool on May 13.

Teachers from the National Education Union demonstrate in central Middlesbrough on Thursday

Andy Cunningham, Labour MP for Middlesbrough, addresses crowds of striking workers

Mr Serwotka said: ‘The evidence stacks up – ministers bullying their staff, giving our members the worst pay rise in the country, refusing to give them a back-dated pay claim or lump sum like they’ve given everyone else, failing even to negotiate with us – so how else do you explain it? 

‘How else do you explain the incessant attacks by Government ministers on their own workforce, if it’s not a point of principle?’

The union said its campaign of industrial action shows no sign of abating, with its members on strike next week at the Passport Office, Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and Care Quality Commission. 

Read more: Downing Street accuses rail unions of targeting ‘displaced Ukrainians trying to attend Eurovision’ after ‘vindictive’ strikes announced which will also impact the FA Cup Final and Epsom Derby

The union this week announced a 15-day strike at HMRC in the same dispute. It added that its recent research showed that one in five DWP workers claimed benefits and one in 14 DWP offices had their own foodbanks. 

It was announced last night that the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) will hold a formal postal ballot of its members in England over pay, funding, workload and wellbeing.

It comes after NAHT members overwhelmingly rejected the recent pay offer from the Government amid concerns that the deal was ‘unaffordable’.

Overall, 64 percent of NAHT members in England responded to the union’s online consultative ballot, with 90 percent voting to reject the offer and 78 percent saying they would be prepared to vote for industrial action.

All four education unions – the NAHT, the National Education Union (NEU), the NASUWT teaching union and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) – have rejected the pay offer.

Representatives from each union will speak at a meeting in Telford, Shropshire later today. 

The Government offered teachers a £1,000 one-off payment for the current school year (2022/23) and an average 4.5 percent pay rise for staff next year following intensive talks with the education unions.

The ballot will ask one question – whether school leaders are willing to take strike action. The move comes after NAHT members rejected the government’s recent pay offer, calling it ‘inadequate and unaffordable.’ 

Paul Whiteman, NAHT general secretary, said: ‘Our members have been very clear: they are fed up with their continued mistreatment by government, and they want to stand up and be counted. 

Teachers on the picket line outside Bristol Cathedral School, College Square, Bristol, on Thursday

‘I took part in the recent intensive negotiations with the Education Secretary in good faith, and we took the best offer the Government could make us to our members. Their response could not be more clear: it is just not good enough. 

‘School leaders have suffered over a decade of pay erosion and are feeling the pinch of the cost-of-living crisis just like everyone else. But they still voted against a pay rise, knowing the damage it would do to their schools, pupils and staff. 

‘A pay offer from Government without the funding to back it is an utterly empty promise. It simply leads to redundancies and reduced support for children.’ 

Teachers will also take industrial action on Tuesday, causing disruption to thousands of pupils and families, after walking out on Thursday. 

Friday’s action follows a strike on Thursday by teachers in England in a pay dispute, and announcements by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) and the drivers’ union Aslef of strikes in their pay dispute with train operators. 

Aslef members will walk out on May 12 and 31 and June 3, the day of the FA Cup Final at Wembley. 

The RMT announced a strike on May 13, the day of the Eurovision Song Contest final in Liverpool. 

The Royal College of Nursing has had to shorten a planned 48-hour strike this weekend after losing a court case taken by the Government questioning the legality of the walkout. 

RCN members will strike from Sunday evening to Monday evening but not on May 2 as previously planned. 

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