Job centre staff strike

Hundreds of contract staff in job centres were striking today – but Shropshire appeared to have escaped the worst of the disruption.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services union working in call centres, job centres and offices across the country were walking out for two hours today in a dispute over job cuts.

The staff are employed by Balfour Beatty, providing the Department for Work and Pensions with telephone and typing services.

But job centres in Shropshire, including in Bridgnorth, Shrewsbury, Telford, Market Drayton, Oswestry, and Whitchurch, were not believed to be affected.

The dispute has arisen after it was revealed about 300 staff are facing compulsory redundancy on the lowest pay-off terms allowed.