Labour faces Whitehall strike threat as civil service union demands £18 per hour minimum wage, pay rises of at least 10%, and a shorter working week

Daily Mail​

21-05-2025

Civil servants are demanding an £18 per hour minimum wage, pay rises of at least 10 per cent, and a shorter working week.
Members of the PCS union, which represents workers across Whitehall, are also calling for a minimum London weighting of £5,000 per year.
The demands were included in a motion passed by delegates at the union's annual conference in Brighton this week.
It also calls on PCS bosses to 'use all available methods to get the union ready for a fight' with the Labour Government, raising the prospect of possible strike action.
The motion states the union's leadership should 'proceed to a ballot by no later than mid-September if there is not satisfactory progress made' over its key demands.
PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote used her conference speech to lash out at Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer 's vow to slim down the 'flabby' civil service.
As reported by Civil Service World, she said: 'Although the PM has scrapped Tory plans to slash 66,000 civil service jobs, there are still too many threats to jobs in many areas of government.
'And we will be fighting to defend jobs, and indeed to expand the civil service where we can make that case.'
Ms Heathcote said there was a need to fight against the 'false divide that has been brought up again recently – between the back office and the front line'.
'Whether it's in the NHS, the police, the courts or the core civil service – the front line cannot do its job without the back office,' she said.
'Just to be clear for any ministers or journalists listening: if you cut the back office, you damage the front line.'
The trade union boss also hit out at Labour's cuts to winter fuel payments and benefits, in the wake of the party's dire local election results and loss of the Runcorn and Helsby by-election.
'When you attack pensioners, attack disabled people, and attack workers' jobs or pay, then don't be surprised if they don't then turn out to vote for you,' she added.
The website reported that the conference motion passed by PCS members also demanded pay restoration for money lost since 2010, and protections against 'the increasing threat of AI'.
Last month, the Cabinet Office announced it is slashing more than 2,000 jobs as it 'leads by example' in Labour's bid to shrink the size of Whitehall.
Around 1,200 roles will be lost at the department through a voluntary redundancy scheme and by not replacing staff when they leave.
Another 900 posts are being transferred to other parts of Whitehall as part of a shake-up of departmental responsibilities.
The 2,100 job cuts represent just almost a third of the 6,500 'core staff' at the Cabinet Office, which supports the PM and sits at the heart of the civil service.