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 government said the union's demands were "unaffordable".

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.

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.

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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."

Learner drivers have had long waits for tests in recent years due to a shortage of examiners and instructors.

There has also been higher demand for tests due to a backlog caused when Covid rules were in place.

In August, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) said there were more than 500,000 learners waiting for their driving test.

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

The union 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.

It 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.

A government spokesperson said: "We greatly value the work of civil servants across the country, but the PCS union's demands would cost 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, protect the vulnerable and rebuild our economy.

"Discussions will continue, but we can provide reassurance that we have comprehensive plans in place to keep essential services running and to minimise disruption if these PCS strikes do go ahead."