PCS union members in Ofwat have voted in favour of industrial action to secure guarantees on jobs, terms and conditions, pay, and wider working conditions.

In the ballot that closed on Monday 19 October, 73.72% of those who voted said they were willing to take strike action and 91.3% voted yes for action short of strike. 

The PCS says the ballot result shows the strength of feeling among union members working in the water regulator. Over a year after the government announced plans to abolish Ofwat and create a new water industry regulator, these members are still waiting for the assurances they need about their future.

PCS will write to the employer and ministers in both Defra and the Welsh Government to demand swift action to deliver basic assurances on the members’ conditions of employment. If these assurances are not provided, PCS will consider a plan of strike action and action short of strike in order to secure these demands.

The ballot result comes just days after the government announced severe drought status in parts of southern England, placing into sharp perspective the unprecedented scale of the challenge facing the water sector at this time. The continued uncertainty for Ofwat employees is seriously undermining the ability of the government to deliver on urgent but much-delayed improvements to the water system in England and Wales.

PCS General Secretary Fran Heathcote said:

"Our water system is in crisis. The challenges facing our water supply and sewerage systems have never been greater, and strong regulation must be a major part of the solution. Our members agree with the government that reform is needed.

“That’s why the increasing drift and delay to the water reform programme over the past 14 months is so concerning. Our members at Ofwat do vital work holding private water companies to account and keeping the system going.  

“Yet, despite the scale and urgency of the crisis, they still don’t know whether they will have a job in the new regulator, or whether they will retain their civil service status.

“This overwhelming ballot result sends a clear message: Ministers need to step in urgently and tell their department to give our members the basic assurances they should have received months ago. If they do not, then they will cause a period of industrial action that will significantly impact their future ambitions."