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Destructive industrial action threatens to rumble into the summer after civil service union leaders vow to launch a new wave of strikes in response to offers of “insulting” compensation.
New strikes by civil servants are expected in May and June after unions attacked a government salary proposal of 4.5 to 5 percent this year.
This prompted hope within the government that further disruptive industrial action on railroads could be avoided as new proposals for railroad workers were submitted.
But failing to secure a deal would be a big setback for Rishi Sunak. And his efforts to get the economy back on track, with nurses announcing a new two-day strike after rejecting the government’s latest proposal, will be a major blow.
The civil servant’s salary contract was rejected by prospects representing government officials such as the Bureau of Meteorology and the Department of Health and Safety, whose members are set to go on strike next month.
But thousands more may be on board after both the Public Commercial Service (PCS) union and the FDA union, which represents senior civil servants, pledged to vote their members on further industrial action.
Prospect General Secretary Mike Clancy said: ”
In his comments, PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka said:
The alert comes as ministers and rail operators await the RMT union’s response after receiving a renewed offer from the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) in the latest update on the ongoing rail dispute.
The union’s national executive committee is expected to meet to make a decision on whether to issue a new proposal to wider membership, with a recommendation to accept it and end the controversy.
An RDG spokesman said it had submitted “a fairly amended proposal that provides important clarification and reassurance.”
“We hope that RMT executives can present this proposal to all members of the railway operating company so that they can have a say in the transaction and end this controversy,” the spokesperson added.