HMRC staff strike calling for inflation-matching pay
Staff in HMRC have walked out in a bid to see a pay increase which will match the rate of inflation.
Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) took part yesterday in industrial action across the countryPR28 in an ongoing dispute regarding pay, pensions and compensation.
Like many of the other strikes that have been taking place across different industries, the main issue that members of the unions are fighting for is the rate of pay not increasing accordingly to the rate of inflation.
The PCS is one of the biggest unions in the UK and predominantly works alongside civil servants who work within the government or other public bodies.
Staff members at the Portsmouth branch of HMRC,
based at Lynx House, stood united on the picket line outside their workplace yesterday morning to show that they were not backing down.
Dave Hansford, PCS branch chair for Portsmouth, said: ‘There (were) pickets at all of the revenue buildings and it is a national campaign around our pay, pensions and compensations.
‘Obviously the climate we have is all due to the rate of inflation which is about 10 per cent so we are looking for that and also with our pensions, we are overpaying to the civil service scheme by about two per cent since about 2019 so we are looking for the government to stop that.
‘It is a sad state of affairs and next year it may be the same thing. We do collections for local food banks here and I am pretty sure that some of the younger and lone workers have to get some food from the food banks and I think that is shameful in a country as rich as ours.’
Dave also said that it is poor that some staff were receiving such a low wage that they had to have a pay increase to meet the minimum wage rate.
PCS General secretary Mark Serwotka said: ‘Our members are not backing down in this dispute.
‘Ministers need to take notice that we’re escalating our action and they need to resolve the dispute by putting money on the table.’