Civil Servants vowed to press ahead with a strike ballot of almost half a million Whitehall staff after the Cabinet Office minister Tessa Jowell refused to back down over plans to cut redundancy pay and ban early retirement packages.

Unions said they would continue to prepare the groundwork for a ballot in the new year to fight proposals that reduced the potential payoffs expected by staff made redundant.

A meeting this week with Jowell and five civil service unions failed to reach agreement despite threats of strike action from the largest of them, the PCS. Unions agreed to hold a further meeting in January, but will continue to prepare for a ballot in case the government refuses to give ground. PCS legal advisers are investigating a separate challenge to the proposals in the courts under a judicial review.

The PCS union executive is expected to back a strike ballot after the re-election of general secretary Mark Serwotka . Serwotka received two thirds of the vote after he pursued a hardline campaign against government cuts to pensions and redundancy payments.

Ministers want to save £500m from reforms to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme (CSCS) over three years.

Under the scheme, workers who are made redundant will lose the right to enhanced early retirement packages. They will also see the maximum payout cut from three years' salary to two, and be forced to gain two years' service to qualify for redundancy against one year under the current rules. Privately, officials have argued the cuts are likely to be lighter than anything proposed by a Conservative government and it would be advantageous to agree a deal before the election.

However, Serwotka has been determined the government should protect existing staff and restrict cuts in benefits to new workers.

Unions argue redundancy terms, including early retirement at 50, are part of staff terms and conditions of employment. They plan a legal challenge to overturn government proposals.

Serwotka said: "Through this overwhelming show of support, members have shown that they want a union that will campaign and organise against the damaging consensus amongst the main political parties, which champions public sector cuts, pay freezes and privatisation.

"There are massive challenges facing PCS and its members in the year ahead."

Unite argued more than 20,000 of its members would be left tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket in cases of voluntary or compulsory redundancy.

Guardian.co.uk

19 December 2009