A leading United Kingdom Public Service union says it will consider recommending strike action if the Government attempts to force the vast majority of its workers to return to the office by the end of the month.
General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, Mark Serwotka said members had kept the country running during the pandemic while working from home.
“We do not believe it is safe to return to workplaces while infection rates remain high and there is a risk of a second wave,” Mr Serwotka said.
“If the Government or any employer starts forcing people back to work and we believe that it is not safe to do so, we will firstly consider our legal options, secondly give individual legal advice, and thirdly consider whether a collective response is required,” he said.
Mr Serwotka said as a last resort, if there was no other option and people’s health and safety was at risk, “of course we would be prepared to consider industrial action”.
He was speaking after the outgoing head of the Public Service, Sir Mark Sedwill wrote to Department Permanent Secretaries calling on them to reduce the numbers of staff working from home.
Sir Mark said he wanted 80 per cent of workers back at their desks at least once a week by the end of September.
In the letter, Sir Mark and Chief Operating Officer of the Public Service, Alex Chisholm said that “getting more people back into work in a COVID-secure way will improve the public services we deliver”.
General Secretary of the FDA union, which represents managers and professionals in the Public Service, Dave Penman said getting more Public Servants back to their workplaces, was about “virtue signalling” to the private sector.
“You’re not telling me that the big financial houses in the City of London would be having their staff working remotely if it wasn’t working effectively for them,” Mr Penman said.
Earlier, a senior Bank of England official, Alex Brazier said it was impossible for large numbers of staff to return to central London and other big cities while risks from COVID-19 remained.
London, 6 September 2020
