The PCS union will ballot staff at the Department for Education for industrial action following a dispute over job losses and office relocation plans. Members will vote in the coming weeks on whether to launch a campaign of strikes. The union says the protest targets proposals to close six offices across England. PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote states members face impossible choices involving dramatically longer commutes, relocating families, or risking being told to leave. The union argues the closures would harm hundreds of public servants delivering services for children, families, and schools. It criticizes the department’s refusal to consider flexible working arrangements that could save jobs.
"Staff at the Department for Education are to be balloted for industrial action following a dispute over job losses and office relocation plans. Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union will vote in the coming weeks on whether to launch a campaign of strikes. The union confirmed the potential action is a protest against proposals to close six offices across England."
"PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: Our members are being presented with impossible choices: face dramatically longer commutes, relocate their lives and families, or risk being told to leave. No responsible employer should be placing workers in that position when alternatives exist. These closures will have a devastating impact on hundreds of dedicated public servants who have spent years delivering vital services for children, families and schools across the country."
"The department's refusal to consider sensible flexible working arrangements that could save jobs is deeply disappointing, and our members have made it clear that this is unacceptable."
Read at www.independent.co.uk
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