The civil service’s biggest union has announced a major day of strike action in its dispute with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
PCS said that more than 1,180 members at MHCLG will walk out on September 1 as part of the union’s dispute over the department’s plans to close several offices, its attendance policies and recruitment strategy.
The day of action – which coincides with the return of MPs to parliament following the summer recess – will be followed by “targeted action” from September 2-25. That will see around 170 members walk out and other colleagues take action short of strike.
MHCLG announced plans to shut offices in Birmingham, Exeter, Newcastle, Sheffield, Truro and Warrington last year. However, it said the move would be accompanied by an expanded presence at five other locations: London, Wolverhampton, Darlington, Manchester and Bristol.
PCS members at the closure-threatened sites voted to strike over the plans in March this year. A subsequent ballot of union members working in other parts of MHCLG secured a mandate for industrial action over the plans, as well as in relation to concerns about the department’s office-attendance policies and recruitment strategy.
Other issues in dispute include support for disabled workers and improvements to the package offered to staff whose offices are earmarked for closure.
Strikes have been taking place since the spring.
Today, PCS said it had now been “forced to escalate” the dispute because deputy prime minister Angela Rayner – also secretary of state at MHCLG – was refusing to meet her own employees.
It said local representatives had tabled “compromise proposals” with MHCLG’s senior leadership, but the department’s top management had been clear they would only seek compromise if ministers directed them to do so.
PCS said that ministers had so far cancelled scheduled meetings with the union and sought to “hide behind” senior civil servants at the department.
The union said the next wave of strikes would send a “firm message” about the department’s “mishandling of the dispute and unwillingness to compromise”.
PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “Office closures do nothing to serve the department's goal of tackling regional inequalities. Ministers will see staff speak with their feet when they return from recess. Senior management have been clear: they will not seek to resolve this dispute without ministerial direction. Angela Rayner talks the talk regarding workers’ rights; she must now walk the walk and intervene to resolve this dispute.”
An MHCLG spokesperson said: “We have engaged and continue to engage extensively with unions and staff to resolve this dispute and do not believe the current action is an appropriate response to the issues raised.
“We will continue to have an office in every English region as well as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and all staff affected will be able to continue in their roles.”
The spokesperson added that MHCLG’s approach to office attendance was “replicated across the civil service” and had not changed since early 2024.