Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) went on strike following the worker's rejection of a 2.9% pay offer. Workers claim many of their members have to survive on poverty pay and they were fed up with being undervalued. One of the biggest walkouts was at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) were workers often earn wages so low they are eligible for the same benefits they administer. The union is considering legal action over the imposition of a new pay performance system and has called on government to intervene.
See "Civil servants striking over pay", BBC News Online, April 13, 2004