Union Prospect has confirmed a strike by its members at the DVSA.
It comes after it received support for industrial action in a ballot over the pay and conditions that will apply as part of the introduction of the Next Generation Testing (NGT) model the agency is rolling out nationwide, and also over new flexible working patterns more generally.
A three-hour strike will take place from 8am on Friday 20 November alongside a continuous period of work-to-rule beginning the same day, Prospect negotiations officer Helen Stevens confirmed to Motortransport.co.uk today.
In the ballot – which was conducted after further negotiations between the DVSA and the union broke down recently – over 70% voted for a strike and over 91% were in favour of action short of a strike, said Stevens.
Turnout was around 63% among the 585 or so Prospect members.
The latest negotiations were themselves only entered into after Prospect members called off strike action back in May.
In a separate development, members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union have also voted to strike at the DVSA over plans to increase the number of driving tests conducted in a day.
The union has suggested squeezing more driving tests into each working day could breach a legal requirement for elements of the test to be conducted in “good daylight” and has accused the DVSA of a “blatant disregard for road safety”.
Over 91% of PCS members voted in favour of a strike and over 96% voted for action short of a strike on a 64% turnout in a recent ballot, confirmed a PCS spokesman. The PCS, which has 1,600 staff at the DVSA, is currently considering possible dates for action.
In a written statement, DVSA chief executive Paul Satoor said: “[DfT] staff signed up to a new standard employment contract in April 2014 in exchange for a lump-sum payment and a three-year pay deal. This was agreed with the trade unions and included transitional payments which came to an end on 1 November 2015.
“We have also recently offered operational staff a number of flexible working options to enable us to provide even more convenient and flexible services to our customers.
“It is disappointing that the trade unions have now chosen to oppose some aspects of the contract and the more flexible working options. We are doing everything we can to minimise any disruption to customers.”
A DVSA spokesman was unable to clarify what contingency measures would be put in place to help authorised testing facilities (ATFs) carry out vehicle tests as scheduled during the Prospect strike next week, however.
Stevens at Prospect stressed its members “don’t want to hurt the ATF operators” and that the issue was about “how they [the DVSA] manage their staff and reward people”.
Stephen Smith, president of the ATF Operators Association (ATFOA), expressed disappointment that the DVSA had failed to keep ATF operators in the loop about its failed negotiations, adding: “All we can do is sit there and wait for the impact [of the strike].”
