'Start listening' | Met Police staff vote for strike action over return-to-office policy

Metropolitan Police employees have voted to strike over the force’s return-to-office policy.

Office-based staff - not frontline officers - voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action, with 85% of members who voted saying yes to taking strike action, and 91% voted for action short of a strike - revealed by the Public & Commercial Services Union (PCS) which represents the employees.

It is the first time Met Police employees have ever voted for industrial action and, according to the PCS, “shows the depth of feeling after managers reversed the existing agreement on blended working that allowed them to work from home part of the week.”

The Met’s new policy forces members back to the office for between 60 to 100% of their working week. The move affects 2,400 civilians who support the day-to-day work of police officers. But the union says the policy disproportionately impacts women, part-time workers and those with disabilities.