WIREDGOV

5,000 PCS members working in central government departments in Scotland are to join Scottish local government workers in a one-day strike on Wednesday 20 August as part of an ongoing dispute over Scottish Ministers pay policy.

Following massive support for the first PCS action on 31 July, the union has notified the employers in Scottish Government and Registers of Scotland that members will be taking a second day of strike action in conjunction with over 100,000 Scottish local government members of Unison, Unite and the GMB.

PCS members are angry that Scottish Ministers have imposed a 2% pay increase on their own workforce in the Scottish Government, which is in effect a pay cut whilst inflation spirals beyond 5%. This is a rise of only £4.20 per week for those PCS members earning £16,500 in the Scottish Government.

The day of strike action will mark unprecedented co-ordination over pay disputes across the Scottish public sector. Low paid PCS members in the Scottish Government and Registers of Scotland  are prepared to take a second day of action to stand side by side with other Scottish public sector workers.

Since 31 July, PCS members have been participating in an overtime ban and working to rule, which, as the Scottish Parliament prepares to return from recess will begin to slow down Ministers’ abilities to deliver key priorities in the session ahead.

PCS is also now balloting its members in the Sheriff and High Courts, and the Procurator Fiscals’ Department who, if they vote to join the strike campaign later, would bring Scotland’s justice system to a halt.

Eddie Reilly, PCS Scottish Secretary hit out at Scottish Ministers: “Low paid civil servants are not the cause of inflation – they are the victims. Salmond and Swinney can’t stay in hiding for ever. Ministers need to face up to their responsibilities in this dispute. It seems to be the case with Scottish Ministers that when the going gets tough, the tough go into hiding.”