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More civil servants to strike on Budget day

Budget Day officials’ strikes have escalated and 33,000 other workers are planning to quit, according to a union.

Around 133,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union will now go on strike on March 15.

The additional officers who voted to join colleagues include staff from HMRC, the Care and Quality Commission and the Welsh Government.

The latest action is part of an ongoing dispute over pay and terms.

The PCS union represents thousands of people working in government departments as well as in organizations such as Ofsted, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Border Force.

She is demanding a 10% pay rise, better pensions, job security and no cuts in notice periods.

But the government said the union’s demands would cost “an unaffordable £2.4 billion”. Officials were offered a 2-3% increase.

The latest workers to vote for action join members in 123 government departments and agencies, including staff from the education ministry and the interior ministry.

On February 1, around 100,000 civil servants resigned.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who is responsible for the government’s finances, will outline his plans for taxes and spending next month when he presents the budget.

It comes at a time when price hikes have squeezed household budgets and workers in sectors from healthcare to rail have taken industrial action against pay.

Inflation, which measures price increases over time, reached 10.1% in January-January.

Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS, said ministers “consistently refused” to increase their salary offer.

“They may have hoped we would disappear burying our heads in the sand, but they underestimated the determination of our members, who have been praised for keeping the country running during the pandemic but are now taken for granted. ” he said.

The union has set up a strike fund into which its members have to pay £3 to £5 a month. She said this meant she could afford to continue the strikes for a few more months.

Some teachers and aspiring doctors have also planned strikes on March 15

The government has previously said that public sector salaries must strike a balance between “recognising the vital importance of public sector workers while providing added value to taxpayers” and avoiding further inflation.

The government has been asked to comment on the recent strikes.

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