(Bloomberg) -- Civil servants at the British government’s Office National Statistics will strike over demands that they return to the office at least two days a week.

The Public and Commercial Services union said 73% of the union members balloted voted in favor of industrial action after bosses from the agency “ordered” staff back to the office for 40% of the working week. 

As many as 1,000 ONS workers could walk off the job, potentially affecting the collection and accuracy of critical economic data on jobs, growth and inflation used by the Bank of England and the Treasury. A strike would come at a particularly sensitive time, given the BOE is deciding whether to cut interest rates. Its decision is heavily dependent on the data.

“There are robust plans in place across the organisation to mitigate against disruption and maintain essential services should any industrial action take place,” a spokeswoman for the ONS said. “The ONS has had a hybrid working model for some years, in line with the wider Civil Service. We believe firmly that our flexible hybrid working plans remain in the best interests of the ONS and all our colleagues.”

The ONS employs 5,300 people at its headquarters in Newport, Wales, as well as in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Darlington and Titchfield. The PCS represents more than 1,000 of them.

“Managers have regularly reassured staff that these arrangements would remain in place and staff have built their lives around it,” the PCS union said in a statement. “The new policy has already caused considerable disruption, especially for staff with childcare and other caring arrangements.”

Fran Heathcote, PCS general secretary, said, “ONS bosses have seriously undermined the trust and goodwill of their staff by seeking to drive this policy through in such a heavy-handed way, heedless of the consequences.”

“They now need to immediately pause implementation of the policy and talk to us about reaching a sensible resolution of this issue, which does not carelessly disadvantage staff.”

(Updates with comment from ONS in fourth paragraph.)

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