Staff in government department to strike over office closures

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Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) will walk out later this month and in October.

The union announced that its members in the department’s finance directorate will strike for 13 days from September 24, and those in the resilience, emergencies and recovery directorate will take eight days of strike action from October 1.

The union said the dispute was over plans to close regional offices as well as office attendance targets.

PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “Our members are being asked to pay the price for decisions that make little sense for staff, communities or the effective delivery of public services.

“We need MHCLG to stop closing regional offices, rethink its rigid approach to attendance and get back around the table with PCS to find a fair solution.”

The MHCLG was contacted for comment.