Staff strike at British Antarctic Survey’s Cambridge HQ
Staff at British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge are taking strike action today (March 15) as discussions over pay, job losses and redundancy terms failed to make progress.
There will be a picket line at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) Cambridge headquarters at High Cross, Madingley Road from 7.30am until 10.30am this morning.
As well as strike action, members of Prospect union will take continuous action short of a strike from March 16. This will include only working contracted hours and an overtime ban.
Prospect, “the union for ambition”, represents 155,000 members in the public and private sectors across the UK. Members work as curators, educators, engineers, scientists, managers and specialists in areas such as agriculture, regulation, communications, defence, energy, environment, heritage, industry, media, entertainment and transport.
Prospect members working across the public sector voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action – the biggest strike in a decade – on February 24. Organisations affected include the Met Office, Defence and Science Technology Laboratory (Dstl), Health and Safety Executive, Trinity House, Intellectual Property Office, Animal and Plant Health Agency, Natural England and UK Research and Innovation.
Mike Clancy, general secretary of Prospect, said: “Our members in UKRI 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.
“Poor pay and declining morale represent an existential threat to the civil service’s ability to function, and to our ability to regulate and deliver on the government’s priorities.
“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.”
A spokesperson for Prospect in Cambridge added: “We don’t often take strike action so hopefully the government will sit up and take notice. We’re waiting for a firm offer from them.
“The action comes after a decade of low inflation pay rises, plus threats to cut jobs, plus they want to cut redundancy terms. Management has been very clear in meetings that the plan is to reduce the staff count though they haven’t said where the cuts would come from.
“The mood across everywhere is that they love their work and because of that they’ve put up with low inflation pay rises, and now they feel they have no choice but to make their voice heard.”
BAS, which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), is a significant employer in Cambridge, providing world-leading science, addressing issues of global importance, and helping society adapt to a changing world as the warming climate melts vast volumes of ice in the Antarctic.
A spokesperson for BAS told the Cambridge Independent: “We respect the right of all our employees to take part in industrial action.
“We understand that the cost of living crisis is having a negative impact on our staff and we are providing support wherever we can to practically support our employees.”
