HMRC staff vote for strike action A strike by HMRC workers would affect a range of services from tax advice to call centres. Photograph: Michael Kemp/Alamy Staff at HM Revenue and Customs have voted for industrial action in a dispute over job cuts and privatisation, in the latest trade union protest at public spending reductions. The Public and Commercial Services union said just over half of the HMRC staff polled had voted for strikes, with three-quarters backing protests short of strikes. The PCS general secretary, Mark Serwotka, said: "When reducing the budget deficit is supposedly the government's number one priority, it makes absolutely no economic sense to cut ever more staff from the very department responsible for collecting the taxes that fund all our other public services." The union said it was fighting plans to cut thousands of jobs in the department over the next few years, adding that 30,000 posts had already been lost since 2005. It is understood that the PCS, the largest civil service union in the UK with 55,000 HMRC members alone, is also considering whether its members should join doctors in holding industrial action on 21 June. The British Medical Association announced this week that its 130,000 members had voted for industrial action for the first time since 1975, in a dispute over public sector pension reforms. PCS participation is also contingent on the involvement of health workers at the Unite union, who joined a PCS walkout on 10 May. HMRC said it was disappointed with the vote and would do everything it could to maintain services during industrial action. "We are seeking dialogue with the PCS to address their concerns and will work to minimise any disruption to customers if PCS call a strike," it said. If the 55,000 HMRC staff represented by the PCS decide to take strike action or action short of a strike, it will affect services from tax advice to call centres, but not customs services at ports and airports.