PAY ROW: JobCentre and Passport workers to stage fresh strike action

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) said more than 600 of its members at 13 JobCentres in Glasgow and Liverpool will walk out for five days from May 2.

The union said Glasgow has been targeted for disruptive action because it is one of the areas piloting a scheme on claimants having to attend an office several times over two weeks, while Liverpool will face action because of plans to close a local JobCentre.

PCS members are this week on strike in the Passport Office, Ofgem, and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency ahead of a nationwide walkout by 133,000 civil servants on April 28.

“Ministers might have hoped our members’ anger had dissipated as our dispute has gone on, but it hasn’t, and it won’t until ministers make a meaningful offer.”

A DWP spokesperson said: “We greatly value the work of our staff but the PCS Union’s demands would cost the country an unaffordable £2.4bn at a time when our focus must be on bringing down inflation to ease the pressure on households across the country.

  “Benefits, the state pension and child maintenance payments are paid automatically and people who rely on that support will continue to receive it.”