BoE staff to strike over pay

Staff at the Bank of England have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action over pay.

Unite said 95% of its members working in the maintenance, parlour and security departments voted for strike action on 31 July, 1, 2, and 3 August in a dispute that centres on the pay settlement the bank has imposed on staff without the union's agreement. The union said staff were angry that they have been given a pay rise below inflation for the second year running.

The dispute was prompted by the imposition of a 1% increase in the pay pot for the pay year, which began in March 2017. The amount an individual will receive is then decided at the discretion of line managers, so employees could receive less than 1% and some will receive nothing at all.

Unite regional officer Mercedes Sanchez called on BoE governor Mark Carney to "get his own house in order" as she branded the pay offer "derisory".

“The Bank of England now faces its first strike action in over 50 years when staff in vital services across the country will be taking action because of the bank’s total refusal to accept that its workforce is struggling to meet their costs of living.

“The result of the bank’s unwillingness to negotiate fair pay will be that the bank’s sites, including the iconic Threadneedle Street in the city of London will effectively be inoperable without the maintenance, parlours and security staff."

The union called on the BoE to go back to the negotiating table to discuss a fair pay deal in order to avoid any industrial action.

A spokesperson for the BoE said: "The Bank has been informed of industrial action being called by Unite the Union. The Union balloted approximately 2% of the workforce. Should the strike go ahead, the Bank has plans in place so that all sites can continue to operate effectively. We will continue to have discussions with Unite and hope that there will be a positive outcome.”