The strikers including workers in courts, job centers and museums called for better pay amid a fall in real-term wages over the past years. According to the union, many of its members have been hit by a 20-percent real-term pay cut since 2010 due to the Tory-led Conservative government's pay freeze and a one-percent raise cap.
"We're dealing with a lot of hardship cases. People are having real difficulties in getting through the month. We are just trying to attempt to avoid a pay cut," said Russell Carr, a PCS branch organizer. In addition, the union said low-paid public sector workers have been forced to claim in-work benefits in order to make ends meet.
"This is the seventh year of a freeze, or below-inflation increase, for DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) workers, 40 percent of whom are now claiming working family tax credits and other low-income benefits they are employed to administer," said Fran Heathcote of the PCS.
Meanwhile, a study for the Institute of Policy Research published on Wednesday revealed that an average British worker is £5,000 a year worse off amid the UK's stalled pay growth.
The current UK government launched austerity measures when it came to power in 2010 in a bid to tackle the country's mounting debt and sluggish growth, but the policies have sparked opposition and public protests in recent years.
