Cabinet Office security guards to be balloted for strike action
PCS members escalate action over pay and conditions in four government departments
More than 150 outsourced security guards working in the Cabinet Office and three other government departments are to be balloted for strike action.
Public and Commercial Services (PCS) members working for G4S at the Cabinet Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, Department for Business and Trade, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology as well as those at the civil service hub in Canary Wharf are to being balloted in a dispute over pay and conditions.
The news comes the day before outsourced OCS cleaners and caterers at the FCDO in East Kilbride begin the first of eleven days of strike action, following two days’ strike action last week.
As Labour Party conference takes place in Liverpool, the union called on the government to make good its promise to bring essential outsourced workers back in-house. PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: ‘’We are very clear that ministers have a key role to play in achieving this, and in getting rid of the inequality in pay and employment conditions between directly employed and outsourced staff.
“Our members working for outsourced companies deliver key services that keep civil service departments operational. They deserve better pay, terms and conditions for the essential work they do.”