June driving examiner strike suspended

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has suspended the driver examiner strike taking place this month (June) after receiving a new pay offer from the Department for Transport (DfT). 

The industrial action was set to affect driving test centres in different parts of Great Britain at different times.

Union members would have been striking in London, south-east England, south-west England and Wales today (Thursday, June 15), Friday (June 16) and Monday, June 19.

Further industrial action was planned in Scotland, north-east England, north-west England, Yorkshire and the Humber, the East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, and parts of London on Thursday, June 22, and Friday, June 23.

However, the union has now suspended its action at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) while it negotiates with the DfT over a new cost of living payment. The DfT has offered driving examiners a £1,500 lump sum.

The PCS said it would now begin negotiations with the DfT over the timing of the payment and how such payments will be made to part-time workers.

But the union warned that the suspension does not mean an end to action and strikes could escalate if the DfT doesn’t meet the union’s conditions on how and when the lump sum payment is made.