Titchfield Office for National Statistics civil servants could strike as work from home dispute escalates
A union has opened a ballot for strike action which could affect a number of Hampshire employees as a dispute over a work from home policy escalates.
The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) announced it was balloting its members at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which has an office in Titchfield, for industrial action.
More than 1,000 PCS members at the ONS, who also have offices in Newport, South Wales, London, Darlington, Manchester and Edinburgh, have been refusing to follow an instruction to spend at least 40 per cent of their time in the office and are not working overtime.
Their six-month strike mandate runs out at the beginning of April, so the union is balloting members for a new one to allow action to continue.
PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “Management’s mandatory workplace attendance regime does nothing to improve productivity but everything to disrupt the lives of ONS staff.
“Our ongoing action has allowed our members to continue those flexible arrangements without damaging the organisation’s outputs. We have sought a negotiated approach to hybrid working at ONS from the outset and there is a collective conciliation process now under way with Acas.
“We are engaging in this process in good faith but there is no guarantee of it resolving this dispute. In the meantime, we need to ensure our dispute can continue by renewing our statutory ballot mandate and securing ongoing protection for our members.”
The ballot ends on March 31.
A spokesperson for the Office for National Statistics said: “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 all our colleagues. Face-to-face interaction helps people to build working relationships and supports collaboration, innovation and skills development.
“We’ve done a lot to ensure our hybrid working model is flexible and we look forward to discussions through the Acas conciliation service to seek a way forward.”
Commenting on the ONS dispute, Acas director of dispute resolution Kate Nowicki said: “It is encouraging that the parties have agreed to Acas conciliation.
“Acas conciliators have considerable skill and experience helping parties in dispute find a mutually acceptable resolution and we are optimistic we can help them find a solution.”