Metropolitan Police staff have gone on strike today for the first time ever as those who work from home were told their “pay would be docked” if they did not meet new requirements.
Over 300 members of the force will walk out for two weeks, after senior figures told them to reduce remote working or face pay cuts.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, staff including PCSOs and child protection experts started working from home, with some only in the office two days a week.
Recently, bosses have sought to cut back on remote working as an initiative to improve public trust and confidence. They have asked employees to spend between 60-100 per cent of their hours in the office.
The PCS claimed its members were told their pay would be docked if they did not meet the new requirements
GettyThis move caused a backlash among union members, with around 2,400 staff affected.
PCS claimed its members were told their pay would be docked if they did not meet the new requirements.
The strike will significantly affect backroom functions, with staff updating the National Crime Database and clearing officers through vetting joining the two-week action.
This will mean uniformed officers will need to fill in for staff roles.
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Since 2021, Scotland Yard's 11,000 civilian staff have been able to work hybrid.
However, the new policy will require them to reduce their work-from-home hours, facing potential disciplinary action if they fail to do so.
Staff with operational duties were told from January they would need to spend four days a week minimum in office, and those doing support roles were required at least three days in office.
PCS claimed these requirements were “unreasonable” and would subject them to the “stress of the daily commute”.
In December, over 50 per cent of PCS members voted to strike, initially proposing a “soft strike”.
However, the threat from their bosses prompted them to carry out a full strike.
Fran Heathcote, the PCS general secretary, said: “Our hard-working members in the Met are angry as they believe they have been continually disrespected and ignored by their bosses.”
“If their pay will be docked when they're not on strike, they feel they might as well lose pay by walking out.”
The strike would mean uniformed officers will need to fill in for staff roles
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“The only way for Met managers to avoid the disruption of two weeks' strike action is to get around the table and to listen to members' concerns about the arbitrary new attendance policy.”
The Met Police has promised that they have contingency plans, claiming no front-line services would be affected.
A spokesman for the Met Police stated they feel “disappointed” the PCS feels a strike is necessary, saying: “We have been engaging with our staff and the trade unions for more than a year on our new hybrid working policy which will ensure we can continue to do our very best to serve London, whilst giving support staff the flexibility to work from home up to two days per week.”
They added they were committed to working with the union to solve the dispute, and added they were confident the strikes would not cause disruptions to services.
“The vast majority of our hardworking staff are complying with the new hybrid working policy. The small percentage intending to strike are part of our vetting and referencing teams. Public services like call handling and other frontline roles will be not be affected but, as you would expect, we have full contingency plans in place.”
They finished by saying: “We have been engaging with our staff and trade unions for over a year on this policy, which is in line with many other organisations. Ultimately, this is about our commitment to delivering a better service for Londoners.”
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