Ed Miliband's first week as Foreign Secretary has been met with a round of strikes from irate civil servants as job cuts bite. The former net zero chief, who was spurned for the post of Chancellor by Andy Burnham, was appointed as boss of the Foreign Office instead.
But his first week has been mired in trouble, with US President Donald Trump's White House expressing 'concern' over his appointment, and a fresh headache at the end of the week.
Thousands of staff face axe
Now thousands of staff are due to be axed across the department, prompting threats of industrial action from a powerful trade union. Some 15 to 25% of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) staff are due to face the chop over the next four years.
Union bosses at the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), which dominates Whitehall staff representation, have balloted members to stage a walkout last month. They did so after Mandarins refused to rule out compulsory redundancies across the Civil Service as spending cuts led to a drop in the headcount.
Strike action and work-to-rule
Annoyed workers staged their first day of strike action this week, on Wednesday, and have declared they shall hold a further two next month. Barons have also ordered their members to work to rule across the whole of August unless their demands are met. Working to rule is a form of industrial action wherein staff adhere strictly to the conditions of their contract and is intended to frustrate day-to-day work.
Fran Heathcote, the PCS general secretary, said: "Strike action is always a last resort, but FCDO management has left our members with no choice. It is unacceptable that a government department is pushing ahead with a major restructure while refusing to give workers the basic assurance that they will not be forced out of their jobs. Our members deserve transparency, fairness and respect. Instead, they have been met with uncertainty and a refusal to provide the information needed to properly scrutinise these plans. The department could end this dispute today by doing the right thing – rule out compulsory redundancies and engage meaningfully with PCS."
A spokesman for the FCDO said the department was undergoing a "strategic transformation" to help it deliver in an "increasingly complex and volatile world".
