Bank of England strike: Maintenance staff walkout to go ahead after talks break down

It will be the first strike to affect the Bank of England since the 1960s

Maintenance and security employees at the Bank of England are set to strike in a pay dispute (EPA)

Maintenance, security and hospitality staff at the Bank of England are to go on a three-day strike after talks between the central bank and the Unite union over a pay offer broke down.

It will be the first strike to affect the Bank of England since the 1960s.

The dispute arose over a 1 per cent increase in pay offer from the central bank from March.

The rate of consumer price inflation currently stands at 2.6 per cent, meaning that workers are likely to be facing a real terms pay cut.

"The governor of the Bank of England must take responsibility for the fact that his dedicated workforce is having to make their concerns heard from a picket line," said Unite's Peter Kavanagh.

"The result of the Bank's failure to negotiate with staff is that the Bank of England now faces its first strike action in over 50 years."

Unite balloted 84 Bank staff members. resulting in a 95 per cent vote to strike.

The Bank has a total workforce of around 4,000.

The strike begins on Tuesday and will affect the Bank's "Super Thursday" event, when the Monetary Policy Committee reveals its latest decision on interest rates, the Bank publishes its quarterly Inflation Report and the Governor holds a press conference.

But a Bank spokesperson said on Monday it has contingency plans in place so that "all essential business will continue to operate as normal during this period".

The spokesperson added that the Bank remains ready to re-start talks "at any time".

Unite plans to hold protests outside the Bank's Threadneedle Street offices on Tuesday, which will involve striking staff wearing masks of the Governor, Mark Carney.

The strike had originally been due to begin on Monday but had been delayed to allow the conciliation service Acas to seek to bring the two sides together.

There has never been a strike at the Bank's Threadneedle Street headquarters in the heart of the City of London.

Industrial action in the 1960s affected the Bank's printing plant in Essex.

The Government has set a 1 per cent pay cap for public sector workers, but since the election ministers have signalled this might be eased.

The Bank of England is not officially bound by the cap, but has chosen to remain in line with the rest of the public sector on pay awards.