Since the Conservatives came to power over twelve years ago, they’ve left a trail of destruction and despair in their wake. Millions of people are having to endure untold misery, and with the cost of living crisis set to get even worse, I’ve seen first-hand just how hopeless the outlook is for one group: civil servants. That’s why we’re balloting over 150,000 PCS members for strike action, so the government’s own workers can get the justice they desperately deserve.

My union, PCS, represents staff who work in the civil service and its related areas. They keep this country running and without them, it would come to a standstill. From the courts to the passport office to the benefits system, civil servants and the work they do is indispensable.

During the pandemic, civil servants went above and beyond the call of duty. At a time of national crisis, they put their own safety at risk to provide the essential services the public relied on. Processing the unprecedented number of Universal Credit claims, administering the furlough scheme, and many other vital functions of the state would have ground to a halt if it were not for the hard work and dedication of civil servants.

For all the work civil servants do, they’re treated appallingly. To say they’re taken for granted is an understatement. Their living standards have been plummeting for over a decade and this government is knowingly making things worse for their own workers, even in the middle of a crippling cost of living crisis.

On the issue of pay alone, they’ve been monumentally betrayed. It’s been an astonishing eleven years since they last had a real-terms pay rise, and they’re missing out on at least £2,800 per year. Things have got so bad in the civil service that many workers in the DWP who process Universal Credit applications claim the same benefit themselves because their pay is so low.

Since 2018, PCS members have been overpaying into their pensions by 2% after the government was found to have acted unlawfully over pension changes. The issue still hasn’t been resolved and the government even had the brass neck to ask members to pay to clean up the mess they made of their pensions.

They’re coming for members’ redundancy pay, too, despite our victory in the High Court over attempts to make similar cuts in 2016. And having taken a sledgehammer to members’ pay and terms and conditions, now they’ve got jobs in the crosshairs, with over 91,000 jobs on the line.

They’re being attacked on every front: pay, pensions, redundancy pay, and job security. Nothing is off limits for this rotten government. It’s relentless. In the face of this assault on our members, we’re left with no other option than to ballot our members for strike action.

Our ballot, which has been running for three weeks and closes on 6 November, covers 150,000 members across 240 employers. We intend to hold sustained action across the civil service in order to put maximum pressure on the government.

This is the most important ballot in our union’s history because there is just so much at stake. I can’t recall a time when the civil service faced so many challenges in such a condensed period of time.

Our demands are for the government to not only shield members from the impact of the cost of living crisis but to compensate them for the onslaught on their living standards. Our five demands to achieve this are clear: a 10% pay rise; a Living Wage of at least £15 per hour; an immediate 2% cut in pension payments; no further cuts to redundancy payments; and a job security agreement, coupled with the resources desperately needed to deliver public services.

This is what our members need. A recent survey of them shows just how difficult they’re finding things. 35% have skipped meals because they had no food; 18% have admitted missing work because they couldn’t afford to get there; 8% have used a foodbank. I’ve been PCS general secretary for over two decades and I’ve never known such misery and hopelessness. It’s grotesque and it has to change.

We’ve already seen a wave of industrial action across the country and more unions are balloting in the coming months. Workers are being attacked like never before and we need a campaign across the public and private sectors that can win for members. Joint action will be key.

The postponed TUC Congress meets this week, and now is the time for the organisation and those within it to be radical and bold. This is a timely opportunity for unions to strategise: we can share ideas and tactics on how to organise, how to beat the government’s anti-trade union legislation, and where joint-up, targeted action can have the biggest impact. It’s a pivotal moment for the labour movement and we have to get it right.

This government is falling apart before our eyes. Who knows how long it will last. But one thing about Conservative governments remains constant: they simply do not value the worth of workers. A campaign of industrial action, if necessary, will remind them of that worth.