Workers at the Bank of England have voted for a four-day strike in support of a pay claim. It will be the first walkout by the Bank's staff in over five decades. Over 95 per cent of bankers who voted chose to strike. They say the Bank's pay rise offer is unacceptable. The Bank offered its workers a collective one per cent pay rise. The deal means that a third of staff could get no pay rise. The workers' union said: "The result of the Bank's unwillingness to negotiate fair pay will be that the Bank's sites…in the City of London will effectively be inoperable."
The Bank of England was established in 1694. It is the world's second oldest central bank. Public sector staff in the UK are suffering financially. They have had their annual salary increase capped at one per cent. This is below the 2.9 per cent level of inflation. The union said workers are taking action, "because of the bank's total refusal to accept that its workforce is struggling to meet their costs of living". It added that it was shameful that an "iconic symbol of financial services" is ignoring "the concerns of its dedicated and hardworking staff and impose this derisory pay deal."