More than 3,000 union members at the United Kingdom Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and three of its Agencies are to take action short of a strike from 11 April.
The action could see staff in the Forestry Commission England, the Marine Management Organisation, the Rural Payments Agency and the DEFRA itself refusing to work overtime or carry out tasks that would usually be covered by another grade.
The Public and Commercial Services (PCA) union is in a long-running dispute over pay, pensions, redundancy terms and job security.
It is demanding a 10 per cent pay rise for its members for 2022-23, along with agreements on pensions, job security and redundancy terms.
Ministers have so far refused to negotiate the standing two-to-three per cent pay offer, which unions have rejected.
The PCS says the Government has failed to offer any meaningful talks over Public Service pay even as Ministers reached a deal with National Health Service workers.
Another Public Service union, Prospect, said the Public Service was being treated as the poor relation of other parts of the public sector.
General Secretary of the PCS, Mark Serwotka said the action would further ratchet-up the pressure on Ministers to settle the dispute.
“Our members are showing no sign of backing down. They are standing up for themselves because they are fed up with being taken for granted,” Mr Serwotka said.
A spokesperson for the DEFRA said the Department greatly valued the work of its people, and regretted the decision to take action.
“We are doing everything possible to minimise the impacts and we will continue to protect the environment at all times,” the spokesperson said.
London, 28 March 2023
