Union votes for all-out strike action in ONS office attendance dispute

Hundreds of Office for National Statistics (ONS) workers have voted for all-out strike action in a dispute over office attendance.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union based in Newport in South Wales, Titchfield in Hampshire, London, Darlington, Manchester and Edinburgh voted by 92% to extend their long-running dispute.

Since May they have been refusing to spend at least 40% of their time in the office, continuing to work from home.

They recently escalated the dispute by refusing to work overtime, out of hours and out of grade.

PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “Up until now our members have been taking action short of a strike but today they’ve voted to escalate this, which could involve an all-out strike.

“Our industrial action has until now had no tangible impact on the ONS’ outputs – which was the point, because we said our members can work at home just as well, if not better, than being in the office – but that can change now we have authority to call a full strike any time in the next six months.

“If management wants to ensure the work at ONS remains unaffected, they must engage in meaningful talks with us to end this dispute.”

No strike dates have been announced but action short of strike will continue.

An ONS spokesperson said: “We have robust plans in place and do not anticipate any disruption to key ONS publications.

“Nevertheless, we still believe firmly that a reasonable level of office attendance – in line with the wider Civil Service – is in the best interests of the ONS and of all our colleagues.

“Face-to-face interaction supports personal collaboration, learning and innovation.”