WIREDGOV

Legal action brought by PCS over cuts to the redundancy terms for civil and public servants will start on 22 April, the union announced today.

The judicial review, to be heard on 22 and 23 April, comes as a quarter of a million civil and public servants gear up for a third day of strike action on budget day. The imposed changes will see staff robbed of up to a third of their entitlements and result in loyal civil and public servants losing tens of thousands of pounds if they are forced out of their job.

PCS is arguing that the Cabinet Office were wrong to make detrimental changes to the civil service compensation scheme without agreement. The union believes that under the 1972 Superannuation Act the government needed to implement the cuts to the redundancy scheme with the agreement of civil service trade unions representing the majority of staff.

If the judicial review is successful it would make the new arrangements illegal and invalid.

Civilian staff working for the Met Police and Houses of Parliament security staff are amongst some of the people who will be going on strike on budget day, 24 March, which will also hit courts, driving tests, jobcentres and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

Legal action is another tool in our campaign against these cuts, which will rob loyal civil and public servants of their entitlements if they are forced out of a job.

Commenting, Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: "Legal action is another tool in our campaign against these cuts, which will rob loyal civil and public servants of their entitlements if they are forced out of a job.

"Our members cannot stand by and allow jobs to be cut on the cheap and the services they provide damaged as a result. We will be arguing, because the changes rob people of their entitlements, that in law, the government needed to get the agreement of all civil service trade unions. The government need to recognise the depth of anger and reach an agreement over the changes."