Security guards at two major government buildings are weighing up strike action in a dispute over low pay, amid an ongoing series of strikes at jobcentres across the country.
Members of the PCS union who are working on a security contract with the outsourcer G4S at two civil service buildings will be balloted for strike action next week and the week after.
The ballot will run from 23 September until 7 October and will be open to security guards working on the contract at Department for Business and Trade HQ, the Old Admiralty Building on Horse Guards Parade, and 10 Victoria Street, which is home to several civil service bodies including the Government Office for Science and Government Internal Audit Agency.
PCS said it had issued the ballot notice on Monday after “repeated attempts” to engage G4S in discussion about its members’ claim for improvements to their pay and terms and conditions, but that G4S had failed to respond.
CSW has contacted G4S for comment. It had not replied at the time of publication.
PCS wants to bring pay and T&Cs for workers on the G4S contract closer to those of the civil servants where they work.
It is also calling for funding from their employer for Security Industry Authority licences, which are a legal requirement for anyone working in a private security role within the UK.
The ballot comes amid an ongoing series of strikes by workers on G4S's security contract with the Department for Work and Pensions, also over pay and conditions. PCS is calling for a meaningful pay rise for its members on the contract, as well as the reinstatement of differentials for supervisors, who are currently paid just 1p an hour more than the colleagues they oversee.
Industrial action at jobcentre across the country began on 1 May, forcing dozens of sites to close. The next seven-day walkout will begin on 23 September.
Announcing the ballot, PCS said: “Our members are clear – they will not be treated as second-class workers and ignored and PCS will be demanding that the UK government deliver on their commitment to ‘bring about the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation’.”