Metropolitan police staff have called a strike for two weeks over work-from-home rules
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00:00So, how has this strike come about? Well, it's all about working from home. The Public
00:07and Commercial Services Union, PCS for short, said its members, those who are of course
00:15as of Tuesday on strike had been threatened with having their pay docked if they did not
00:19agree to a new attendance policy. Many of these workers refused to return to the office
00:26for additional days they believed were unnecessary. However, the issue arises that the police
00:33said they would dock pay if they did this. So, the PCS have commented if their pay will
00:39be docked when they're not on strike, they feel that they might as well lose pay by walking
00:45out. The PCS added that the hardline approach by the Metropolitan Police managers has been
00:51completely counterproductive. Those on strike are all from the Reference and Vetting Department.
00:59The Metropolitan Police has confirmed that frontline services such as officers on the
01:04ground and call handling will not be affected. They've also stressed that there is a contingency
01:11plan in place. However, backroom functions such as updating the National Crime Database
01:18and clearing people through vetting are expected to be affected until the 17th of February
01:25when the strike is supposed to end. A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said we are disappointed
01:30the PCS feels such action is necessary and we remain committed to continuing to engage
01:37with trade unions to resolve the dispute, adding they had been engaging with staff and
01:43trade unions for more than a year.