London's Metropolitan Police is bracing for significant disruption later this month after staff announced six further days of strike action in an ongoing and bitter pay dispute.
New Strike Dates Announced
Unite the union has confirmed that 175 of its members will walk out from Monday 19 January to Saturday 24 January 2026. The workers involved are critical to frontline operations: they include call centre staff answering 999 calls for the Met's Command and Control (Met CC), as well as vehicle technicians and office personnel responsible for servicing and dispatching the force's marked and unmarked cars and motorcycles.
The Heart of the Pay Dispute
The industrial action centres on the pay award for the 2025/26 financial year. Unite states that its members have been offered an "inferior" rise, despite police officers within the Met receiving a 4.2 per cent increase in September 2025. The union highlights that all other police constabularies across the UK have awarded the same 4.2 per cent uplift to both officers and staff without attaching conditions.
The Metropolitan Police has defended its position, citing a £260 million budget gap and describing itself as a "shrinking" organisation. A spokesperson argued it could not justify spending millions to give staff a £1,250 award "as they don't face the same recruitment and retention challenges as officers."
Unite members have rejected two provisional offers from the force: a 3.8 per cent increase (which the union says is below the Retail Price Index measure of inflation) or a 4.2 per cent rise that would require workers to surrender their current terms and conditions.
Following a 'Disruptive' First Strike
This latest announcement follows an initial strike on New Year's Eve, which Unite described as "hugely successful and disruptive." The union said that walkout caused major delays to police call-outs due to a shortage of available vehicles after fleet staff walked out.
Unite's General Secretary, Sharon Graham, said: "It is completely wrong that Met police staff were the only police staff in the UK not to have received a pay rise. It is immoral to tell them that in order to get the same pay increase as their counterparts elsewhere they will be expected to accept worse conditions."
Unite regional officer Keith Henderson warned: "The force will hugely struggle to cope with several days' worth of action, but the Met must revise its pay offer to one acceptable to our members to prevent this from happening."
The Met Police reiterated its stance, with a spokesperson saying: "While we genuinely value officers and staff equally, pay and allowances are completely different, reflecting the fundamental differences in roles, responsibilities and expectations. We have made a reasonable alternative offer to the trade unions to settle the dispute and remain open to finding a solution."
