Government workers union threatens ‘mass disruption’ to force Legal Ombudsman to recognise staffing crisis
The UK’s sixth biggest union has threatened to launch a campaign of “mass disruption” to force the Legal Ombudsman to formally acknowledge its staffing issues, after more than a fifth of the government body’s staff left within a year.
The threat comes after talks collapsed between staff at the Legal Ombudsman and the senior management of the government body that deals with complaints against lawyers.
The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) said management at the Legal Ombudsman had failed to acknowledge the “serious and fundamental issues” facing the body, after more than fifth of its staff left the organisation over the past year.
The union called on the Legal Ombudsman to formally recognise issues facing the organisation, including high staff turnover and a recruitment crisis.
In a statement, PCS National Officer, Andrew Lloyd said that if the Legal Ombudsman fails to formally acknowledge the issues, the union will launch a campaign against the body, to force it to recognise the problems.
“The campaign will cause mass disruption that is completely avoidable, but the intransigent actions of the employers’ representatives leave us with no alternative,” Lloyd said.
The Legal Ombudsman has been approached for comment.