Staff working at Job Centres in Merseyside are having to claim the same benefits they help process as the cost of living intensifies.
Department of Work and Pensions staff on strike yesterday, part of a mass national walkout featuring a number of unions, told the ECHO how they have faced various “pay cuts” and “pay freezes” over the last 12 years, claiming in some cases to be losing 30% of their pay in real terms. A 2% pay rise has been offered to civil servants, but with inflation in the region of 10%, the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has pushed back on this - resulting in yesterday’s huge day of strike action.
A number of picket lines were in place across Bootle, home to a large cluster of Government offices for the DWP, Home Office and Health and Safety Executive. One of the pickets was in place at the Job Centre on Stanley Road.
