Ministers have said any co-ordinated strike action would be a "mistake". Up to 750,000 public sector workers will join a mass walkout later this month after members of a third union backed industrial action.The PCS said its 290,000 members had to defend themselves against "attacks" on their pensions by the government.
The civil servants will strike on 30 June - the same days as hundreds of thousands of teachers and lecturers.
The government says current pension arrangements are unaffordable and strikes would be a "big mistake".
The National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers have announced a nationwide walkout on 30 June, affecting thousands of schools in England and Wales.
With the PCS joining them, it will be the biggest outbreak of industrial unrest in the public sector for many years.
Members of the PCS include court and jobcentre staff, border, customs and immigration officers, air traffic controllers and police support staff.
'Perfect storm'The PCS said 61.1% of those balloted voted in favour of strike action, while 83.6% backed action short of a strike. The turnout was 32.4%.
The day-long strike will be followed by a month-long overtime ban.
Earlier, PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said a vote to strike was inevitable given the strength of feeling over changes to pensions.
He told the BBC that civil servants were being asked to work up to eight years longer and accept a three-fold rise in their contributions, while also seeing their eventual payments halved.
Continue reading the main story Benefits and welfare advice Border and immigration Coastguards Courts service Customs Defence maintenance and support Information technology Police support Royal palaces Security State pensions Taxation "It's absolute daylight robbery," he said, warning that action was likely to intensify further in the autumn."I don't think it's surprising that people will want to defend themselves and if you're going to defend yourselves it obviously makes sense that you make common cause with council workers, health workers and teachers because we all face the same attacks."
And he added: "There is no indication whatsoever that the government is having any second thoughts. What they've told us is at every meeting is that they will not compromise... so in reality the talks are a farce."
Asked about suggestions that public sector pensions should be more in line with the less generous schemes in much of the private sector, he said that was an argument in favour of "an equality of misery" and did not take account of the fact that, historically, state employees have received better pensions to make up for relatively lower salaries.
Mr Serwotka said the average civil service pension was ?4,000 a year - but Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude highlighted different figures, stating that a worker on the median salary of ?23,000 would have a pension pot of ?500,000 - equivalent to about ?15,000 a year - after 40 years' service.
An independent review of pensions by former Labour minister Lord Hutton put the average at between ?5,600 and ?7,800 a year.
However, that figure takes into account everyone to whom a pension is being paid, regardless of whether they have spent 40 years working in the public sector or just a few months.
Someone who spends their entire working life in the public sector could expect to retire on a pension of two-thirds their final salary.
Strike lawsMr Maude said it was fair to ask public sector workers to pay "a bit more" for their pensions - with an average rise in contributions of 3% - to create a better balance with what other workers paid.
"We have made a great deal of progress in the talks and I am hopeful that more progress will be achieved," he said.
"It will be a big mistake for people to embark on strike action while there are discussions going on."
London Mayor Boris Johnson and business organisation the CBI have suggested there should be a minimum turnout for union ballots in favour of strike action.
Earlier this month, Business Secretary Vince Cable said that while the case for changing the law was currently "not compelling", if there were co-ordinated and damaging strikes, "the pressure on us to act would ratchet up".
Mr Maude said he agreed with Mr Cable about the possibility of new legislation on a minimum turnout for a strike vote, adding: "We don't think the case is made at the moment, but we haven't ruled it out.
Further talks between the government and union leaders are scheduled for 27 June.
Lord Hutton's review rejected any suggestion that public sector pensions were "gold-plated", but said that in order to make them affordable for the future, millions of employees should work longer, receive less and have their pensions linked to career average earnings, rather than final salaries.
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