BRITISH LIBRARY workers began balloting for strike action today as one spoke of how the cost-of-living crisis left them suicidal.

“What’s the point of being alive anymore,” They told the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS). ”It’s made me physically in pain and suicidal.”

Almost 300 PCS members will vote on whether to strike over pay until October 13.

Their key demand is for an inflation-proof pay rise with restoration after a second consecutive year of a real-terms pay cut.

They are also demanding payment for alternative working patterns for security staff and no future bonuses for bosses while workers struggle to make ends meet.

PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said that its “treatment of workers can only be described as a national disgrace.

“As executives take home giant five-digit bonuses, our members are struggling to survive in one of the most expensive cities in the world.”

The British Library was contacted for comment.