Metropolitan Police staff are to be balloted for strike action in a dispute over pay, with a union claiming that civilian workers in the Met are treated as “second-class citizens”.
The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union said about 6,500 of its members will vote in the coming weeks on whether to launch a campaign of industrial action.
The union claims its members have been refused a £1,250 London allowance which is paid to police officers, describing it as a “symbol of inequality in the Met”.
The Met Police said pay and allowances for staff and officers are “completely different” and reflect the “fundamental differences in roles, responsibilities and expectations.”
PCS union general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “While management promotes the idea of ‘One Met’, police staff are consistently treated as second-class on pay, promotion and job security.
“Officers receive the allowance and free travel while many of our dedicated members who support them struggle to make ends meet in one of the most expensive cities in the world.
“It’s time to transform ‘One Met’ from empty rhetoric into reality, creating a workplace that guarantees fairness, equality and respect for all.”
The Met said that in a year they are reducing officer and staff numbers to close a budget gap, the force “cannot justify spending millions to give staff the £1,250 award, as there are not the same challenges recruiting and keeping our staff as we do officers”.
