Civil servants have been branded “workshy, entitled and clueless” by Reform UK leader Richard Tice for demanding a four-day working week and 35 days holiday for the same wages.
The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has called for a “significant shortening” to working hours but no reduction in salary, in a move that has sparked outrage from Conservative MPs and Reform UK.
Fran Heathcote, the general secretary of the PCS, wrote to the Cabinet Office to ask for a pay rise and more annual leave for her members.
More than 200,000 civil service workers are represented by the union across 213 government departments and agencies.
Writing to John Glen, the Cabinet Office minister, prior to the annual Civil Service pay review, Ms Heathcote demanded a “significant shortening of the working week”, but did not specify what she meant by this.
According to The Telegraph, the PCS would like to see the four-day working week implemented across the Civil Service.
Responding to the demands in the union’s note, Reform UK leader Richard Tice told Express.co.uk that the requests were “absurd”.
He said: “Absurd proposal from [an] out of touch union on behalf of failing civil service presiding over collapse of our public services.
“This just shows they are workshy, entitled and clueless about how to get [the] economy growing again”.
The business tycoon’s sentiments were shared by Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg who, according to the Telegraph, said civil servants should be at work “full-time” or “take a pay cut”.
This comes off the back of a petition by staff in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for a four-day working week with no pay cut, backed by the union.
The PCS also demanded an “inflation-proofed” pay increase “plus pay restoration”, and a living wage of £15 per hour.
Ms Heathcote told Mr Glen that it “should be a matter of shame for a government employer” that some of her members were living in poverty, as she alleged they were.
What’s more, the letter also demanded a London wage uplift of at least £5,000 per year, and a minimum of 35 annual leave days for staff.
