Driving examiners across UK to stage strikes over pay

Driving examiners and rural payment officers at more than 250 sites across the UK are to go on strike in a series of walkouts by civil servants.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union will hold rolling strikes from 13 December to 16 January.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and Rural Payments Agency are two of many government departments that voted to strike over pay and other terms.

The Cabinet Office has been contacted by the BBC for comment.

The PCS, which represents workers employed by several British government departments, is calling for a 10% pay rise, better pensions, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms.

The civil service helps develop and implement government policy, as well as providing services to people across the UK, including running prisons, employment services and paying benefits and pensions.

The union has previously said that an average of 86.2% of its balloted members voted for industrial action - the highest percentage vote in its history.

It announced the first wave of strikes will be staged by driving examiners and rural payment officers in different regions across the country on a rolling basis from mid-December to the middle of January.

Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said the strikes were the "the hardest-hitting industrial action the government will have faced in decades", adding they will "cause a massive amount of disruption".

"The government, which has spent years turning a blind eye to our pay demands, will no longer be able to ignore us," he said.

"Our members are proud of their work, so it's not easy for them to take action they know will affect the very people they came into the job to serve."

The PCS said it would announce further strike dates in other departments, including the Home Office and Department for Work and Pensions, over the next few weeks.

The PCS is one of several unions whose members are striking over pay, with rail workers and Royal Mail staff also walking out in recent weeks.

UK inflation, which is the rate at which prices rise, is currently 11.1% and most unions have called for wage hikes in line with the rising cost of living.

The Cabinet Office has previously said that it greatly values the work of civil servants across the country, but added the PCS union's demands "would cost an unaffordable £2.4bn".