Criminal records staff start work to rule

Some 450 Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union members are refusing to undertake tasks that are not in their employment contracts.

They are protesting against an "insulting" 0.5 per cent pay rise.

PCS negotiations officer Peter Middleman said: "It is an indictment of senior managers that the reward for our members' hard work at the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) appears to be just a lot of lukewarm words followed by what amounts to an effective pay cut of more than 4 per cent in real terms."

He warned that the action could double, from four to eight weeks, the time that it takes for prospective teachers, nurses and foster parents to obtain clearance to work with children.

With the headline inflation rate soaring to almost 5 per cent and the cost of essentials such as food, fuel and transport rising even higher, the union is determined to resist the government's attempt to cap public-sector workers' pay to just 2.5 per cent.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "Industrial action is a last resort, but there is a sense of betrayal over the pay cap, which is compounding the financial hardship of hard-working civil and public servants at this time of economic instability."

He added: "The disruption from the work to rule in the CRB could be made worse if members back a programme of national pay strikes later this week.

"The government has to realise that pay cuts and pay freezes will only drive down the wages of people already struggling to make ends meet and will only cut our members' living standards further.

"The union is urging our members to vote Yes in the ballot for strike action and we intend to co-ordinate the timing of any action with teachers and NHS workers who are also planning strikes in the autumn," he said.

The ballot result is expected on October 18. If civil servants back industrial action, there will be a rolling series of strikes hitting job centres, passport and immigration offices, coastguards and other government departments.