Members of government agency Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in Portsdown take strike action today

Members of Prospect union working at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) in Portsdown and at the Institute of Naval Medicine are downing tools after they have ‘had enough’. As well as strike action, workers will take continuous action short of a strike from Thursday. This will include an overtime ban and other possible action. There will be a picket line at Portsdown West from 8am - 11am.

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DSTL is an important employer in Portsmouth and performs an important public service. Members of Prospect are taking this action across the country in a number of different employers. This is the largest industrial action Prospect has taken in more than a decade. Prospect represents tens of thousands of specialist, technical, professional, managerial and scientific staff in the Civil Service.

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Mike Clancy, general secretary of Prospect, said: ‘Our members in DSTL and the rest of the public sector have seen their incomes decline by up to 26 per cent over the past 13 years and their work taken for granted – they have had enough.

‘Bills are rocketing and pay is falling ever further behind the private sector leaving our members with no option but to take industrial action. We will continue our campaign until the government comes up with a meaningful offer. If it doesn’t do so soon, we may be left with no Civil Service to protect.’

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