Interserve industrial action at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

That this House supports members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) employed by Interserve at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) who will embark on a month of strike action throughout February 2020; notes that this dispute has been ongoing since March 2019 over issues including pay, trade union recognition, removal of working hours for cleaners and sick pay; further notes that the last strike ballot in October 2019 returned a 100 per cent vote in support of further strike action on an 82.5 per cent turnout; commends the efforts of PCS in their attempts throughout this dispute to seek resolution via the conciliator, ACAS, and their calls for urgent meetings with the employer and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs during the most recent ballot period; is concerned that treatment of staff employed by Interserve at the FCO has worsened in recent months, with those involved in the dispute excluded from festive activities and attempts being made by their employer to close their designated break room; notes that no worker takes the decision to go on strike lightly; and therefore calls on the Secretary of State to intervene urgently to bring an end to this dispute and ensure all workers in Government are treated with dignity and respect.