Civil Servants carry out mass strike action
Hundreds of thousands of civil servant workers are striking across the country today.
An estimated 133,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services Union are walking out on their third day of action.
Workers across 132 government departments are striking including the student loans company, Scottish courts and tribunals services and the procurator fiscal.
Social Security Scotland which administers social benefits within Scotland are part of the strike.
Ruth Horsfall of Social Security Scotland said: “Hundreds of thousands of people rely on us to be able to deliver social security but we’ve got people who work for us who themselves are accessing the benefits and foodbanks.
“We feel that for people who work for the government that do that critical work that so many people rely on we should absolutely be paid a minimum wage.”
PCS Union members also held a demonstration at the HMRC building this afternoon as newly appointed deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden visited.
General Secretary Mark Serwotka, in a press release, said: “When you look at how badly ministers treat their staff, it’s impossible not to think this is an ideological war on civil servants”.
The current dispute is over pay, job security, pension and redundancy terms.
The union have been offered a 2% pay rise which has been rejected by the union as they argue that is not in line with inflation.
Passport office workers are currently in the fourth week of their five-week strike.
Strikes are set to continue next week with workers in the Department of Work and Pensions at Glasgow job centers on strike starting on the 2nd of May.
In November 100,000 members voted yes in a ballot for the strike action this week a further 33,000 members joined the strike after a re-ballot in February.
