Union leaders have called on ministers to "reopen negotiations in the light of this ballot decision" after Whitehall mandarins blocked new proposals to change redundancy terms. The government wants to reform the civil service system, saying it is too expensive to continue in a climate of austerity. The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union said more than 80,000 of its members, a third of those balloted, took part in the vote and rejected the new measures.