THOUSANDS of civil servants in Swansea are expected to join a two-day strike over changes to redundancy payments.

DVLA offices in Morriston could be brought to a standstill, because 3,000 of its staff are members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) which has organised the industrial action.

The strikes will run from Monday, March 8, to Tuesday, March 9, and will affect employees at Swansea's DVLA offices, pension centre, Land Registry, Job Centre and benefits offices.

Coastguards, border agency officials and courts staff are also expected to join the action.

Civil servants will also be travelling to Westminster on Wednesday next week to lobby Parliament over the issue.

The PCS has called its action over changes to a pay deal for civil servants faced with compulsory redundancy.

Unions have been in talks with the Civil Service for 18 months over the planned shake-up to its compensation scheme.

The changes, which are due to be brought in on April 1, mean the maximum compulsory redundancy payment will now be two years' pay for those earning £30,000 or more.

Yesterday, the results of a three-week ballot held by the PCS revealed that 63.4 per cent of those who voted had backed strike action.

Senior PCS officer Jeff Evans said: "We have tried to negotiate a settlement, and we understand the need for the Government to have efficiencies, but on the day huge bonuses are being rewarded to highly paid executives at RBS authorised by the Government, it doesn't sit well with our members that they are paying the price for bankers' incompetence.

"Our members, who are predominantly lower paid workers, deserve to be treated in a fairer way.

"We hope today's result will lead to further talks, and we wish to see a negotiated settlement."

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka described the proposed Civil Service changes as a "cynical attempt to cut jobs on the cheap".

He said: "The Government needs to recognise the depth of anger which has been demonstrated by this ballot result, and find the political will to negotiate a settlement that avoids a sustained campaign of industrial action."

A DVLA spokesman said: "The DVLA will be fully prepared to mitigate the effects of any industrial action on its services."

The Civil Service has defended its decision, claiming only a "tiny" amount of its staff are made compulsorily redundant each year.

The PCS's national executive committee will be meeting next week to finalise further strike dates.