Hundreds of Office for National Statistics officials have voted for all-out strike action in an escalation of their dispute over office-working rules.
More than 500 PCS union members based in London, Darlington, Manchester and Edinburgh, Newport in South Wales, and Titchfield in Hampshire, have voted for strike action.
In a ballot that closed yesterday, 71% of those who voted backed strike action on a 63% turnout, while 92% voted to continue action short of a strike.
Since April, the ONS has instructed staff to spend at least 40% of their hours in the office.
In response, officials at the department who are members of the PCS union have been taking action short of strike since May in the form of non-compliance with the policy.
In August, the civil servants escalated the action to include work-to-rule – under which employees perform their duties strictly to the letter of their contract, refusing to take on any additional duties including overtime, out of hours and out of grade work.
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.”
The ONS said it has “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,” an ONS spokesperson added.
No strike dates have yet been announced. Action short of strike will continue until a decision is made on further action.