Civil service union PCS has announced to members that it is preparing a national ballot for strike action, from 20 October to 1 December.

The dispute is about pay, jobs, pensions, and terms and conditions, including a fully funded 10% pay remit, a minimum civil service wage of £18 an hour, and an end to job-cut programmes and imposed office closures. 

Disputes in specific areas continue, including in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Victoria and Albert museum (V&A).

David Hofman reports from the V&A

On 25 September, the first day of a two-day strike at the V&A in South Kensington, dozens of enthusiastic PCS and Prospect members turned out to picket the three major entrances. Management had announced that they didn’t want to pay the London Living Wage, and could not grant a 4% salary increase.

The V&A, apparently, ‘can’t afford’ anything better. This assertion is angrily disputed by strikers like Allison, a trained engineer, with a Masters in Archaeological Sciences, who “finds it hard to survive” in London on a salary of £28,000. Her banner depicted the hypocrisy of the Director, ex-Labour MP Sir Tristram Hunt. His remuneration increase for 2025-6 clearly breached the 4% barrier!

Mark Best adds: The artist and early socialist campaigner William Morris featured on placards and in speeches at the strike rally the following day. The chants of “low pay, no way” continue the fight for us all to, as Morris put it, “live and work in hope and with pleasure.” Workers at the V&A Storehouse appeared to have made progress on one of their demands, for access to water during shifts.

Tessa Warrington reports from the FCDO

In the middle of the day on 24 September, workers marched out of their offices in Westminster chanting, shouting and waving their PCS union flags.

This was the eighth day of strike action over a restructure that puts jobs at risk, whilst the employer simultaneously advertises vacancies. A striker explained: “We are having to reapply and re-interview for our own jobs, competing against colleagues we’ve worked alongside for years. At the same time, 560 jobs – more than the total number of people potentially at risk of redundancy – are being listed by the department online”. The strike has already had partial success, forcing the FCDO not to advertise the jobs externally. A PCS officer said they are prepared to name more strike dates if those jobs aren’t offered to current FCDO staff as a priority.

Socialist Party members supporting the enthusiastic picket line got a great response. These workers had never been out on strike before, but saw the need to take action together and are seeing results. One non-union member stopped and said: “This is what I want to see from the union. A fighting union. I haven’t joined in the past because of a lack of action on a number of issues. I recognise a number of the workers on the picket line and will inquire about joining”. With ongoing action in the V&A, the need for a linked-up national campaign is clear.

TUC must enact PCS’s motion to TUC Congress for a national Saturday demonstration

At the 2026 TUC Congress, Motion 34 from the PCS was passed, which included the call for the TUC to organise a national Saturday demonstration.

As was warned in the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) rally before the start of Congress, a motion calling for a national demonstration was passed at last year’s TUC but wasn’t implemented by the General Council. Therefore it is vital that union reps, members and activists call on their respective unions to vote for the motion to be enacted at the TUC General Council on 21 October.

The NSSN model motion, below, can also be found at shopstewards.net

NSSN model motion: For the TUC General Council to enact Motion 34 to call a national Saturday demonstration

This union organisation/trades council welcomes the overwhelming vote at the recent TUC Congress to pass Motion 34: ‘Public Sector Pay’ from the PCS.

The motion instructed TUC Congress to “urgently call a national Saturday demonstration this autumn for investment in public services, against austerity and for pro-worker policies.”

This union organisation/trades council believes that this is a vital action to mobilise the trade unions to put forward our movement’s demands, as Andy Burnham moves towards his first Budget on 28 October.

This is imperative as the employers lobby for policies to make working-class people and communities pay the price for the crisis caused by big business, centred on a further austerity offensive, which could include attacks that have been raised such as the ending of the pension triple lock.

Therefore, this union organisation/trades council calls on our union to demand that the TUC General Council on 21 October 2026 agrees to enact Motion 34 and name the date for a ‘national Saturday demonstration’ before the end of this year.