City's job centre staff to stage 24-hour walk-out

STAFF at job call centres in Nottingham will stage a 24-hour strike in a row over working conditions.

Jobcentre Plus employees, who are members of the Public And Commercial Services Union, will walk out next Monday, April 18.

They have accused management of showing "little willingness" to resolve the dispute.

The union says it wants to improve the levels of customer service in call centres, end a "target driven" culture, and introduce proper flexible working arrangements.

Jane Aitchison, the union's Department For Work And Pensions group president, said: "We are being prevented from providing a good quality service to the public because of unnecessary and unrealistic call centre targets.

"We entered into negotiations in good faith because we care about the help and advice we give to some of the most vulnerable people in society.

"It's very disappointing that our management didn't do the same."

In a ballot of the union's 7,000 members in the call centres, 70 per cent of those who took part voted for strike action, with a turnout of 43 per cent.

A DWP spokesperson said: "We are disappointed that despite three-quarters of staff not voting to strike, the PCS has decided to take action.

"Contact centre staff at DWP have good terms of employment including generous holiday and have good flexibility.

"We use performance measures to ensure that performance and productivity are high."

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