This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The government department which announced workplace reforms on Monday to help low-paid workers faces a strike over the “poverty wages” paid to its cleaners, security guards and catering workers.

All members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) employed by contractors at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) backed taking industrial action, the union announced.

It said low pay and poor conditions were caused by outsourcing and that it was campaigning to bring services back in house.

The strike was announced on the same day that the business secretary, Greg Clark, claimed to have drawn up the biggest workplace reform programme for 20 years. He said it would “make a real difference to the working lives of millions of workers, particularly those in the most vulnerable positions”.

Unions have criticised the government’s reforms for failing to do anything for people on zero-hours contracts. Striking staff at the Whitehall department, who are employed through the outsourcing firms Engie and Aramark, want to be guaranteed a living wage of £10.55 an hour.

PCS said staff at BEIS were paid as little as £7.82 an hour.

The PCS general secretary, Mark Serwotka, said: “This overwhelming endorsement for strike action shows the strength of feeling amongst our members. The contractors at BEIS have treated them disgracefully and all our members ask is to be on the same terms and conditions as their BEIS colleagues.

“Ministers at the department need to step in and bring these services back in house as a matter of urgency.”

The union’s branch said it had been in talks with BEIS for two years to improve pay and conditions for support staff at the department’s 1 Victoria Street headquarters, as well as various offices around the country and partner organisations.

Those discussions broke down after Clark intervened and said he was asking officials to conduct a review of pay and conditions instead of announcing decisive action, according to the PCS branch.

Cleaners picketed the Ministry of Justice in August demanding the London living wage, instead of the government stipulated “national living wage” of £7.83 an hour. The United Voices of the World union, which represented MoJ cleaners, is balloting security guards for further action.

The government said on Monday that new workplace rules would increase fines for employers which deliberately victimise their staff, and give workers details of their rights on the first day in their job.

The reforms aim to stop the use of pay-between-assignment contracts which allow businesses to opt out of equal pay arrangements for agency employees. Measures will also be taken to ensure that seasonal workers get the paid time off they are entitled to.

They do not, however, ban zero-hours contracts as the unions had demanded.

The general secretary of Unison, Dave Prentis, said: “These measures may help make working life a little more bearable for some, but put simply the government could and should have gone much further. Little will change to help the most exploited workers, and the most unscrupulous bosses are unlikely to start quaking in their boots.”