Up to 700 Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union members working in Universal Credit in the West Midlands have voted overwhelmingly for strike action over high workloads and too few staff.

The union said the vote means two days of strike action will take place in March at Universal Credit centres in Walsall and Wolverhampton. PCS said the ‘beleaguered’ service has faced severe under investment, staff shortages and criticism from claimants on how they are treated.

Commenting on the vote, PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka said staff had been “treated with utter contempt”. He added: “The message from our members is clear – changes need to be made otherwise they will walkout for two consecutive days. The union has tried to negotiate for months but to no avail. Ministers have stuck their heads in the sand and our members are now sending them a very loud wake up call.” Workers at the Universal Credit sites are demanding the recruitment of more staff, permanent contracts for fixed term staff and a decrease in workloads.