Strike set to hit job centres and benefits offices

LONDON - Civil servants at the Department for Work and Pensions started a two-day strike over pay on Thursday which is likely to disrupt services.

Up to 80,000 staff at Jobcentres, benefits offices, the Pension Service and the Child Support Agency were due to take part in the action, the Public and Commercial Services Union said.

It said the strike, to be followed by an overtime ban, would cause significant disruption, with some offices closed and others offering little or no service to the public.

The union said members were protesting over the imposition of a pay offer which would mean two-fifths of staff receiving a zero percent increase next year.

"Staff will not sit back and be allowed to be used by the government as an anti-inflationary tool, especially when there is no evidence to suggest that their pay fuels inflation," said PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka.

The Department for Work and Pension said it was confident that services and payments would be maintained despite the union's action.