Ealing Borough Parking Attendants Vote To Strike
Claim Serco has been targeting union activists
Serco employees protesting outside Ealing Town Hall last year. Picture: Helen Pattison
Over 40 civil enforcement officers in Ealing borough are set to hold strike action.
The staff, who are responsible for giving out parking fines, are employed by outsourcing company Serco.
In a near unanimous vote, they will strike after Serco made elected Unite representatives and activists redundant in what is claimed to be an attempt to undermine trade union organisation. The dates for the strikes have yet to be announced.
The employees also say that Serco is refusing to negotiate a new absence management policy for employees working on the Ealing contract. Unite believes the present policy is being used to unfairly dismiss employees and should be renegotiated.
The relationship between management and the union deteriorated in 2109 when Unite says a restructuring and redundancy programme was instituted without consultation.
Unite regional officer Clare Keogh said, “Last year our members defeated Serco’s attempts to carry out unnecessary job losses among Ealing’s civil enforcement officers.
“The company’s severance offers to union reps, activists and others are a blatant attempt to weaken trade union organisation and force through more unacceptable plans.
“The workforce will not stand for such behaviour and there will be parking chaos on Ealing’s already over congested roads unless Serco tables plans our members can accept.
“It is no surprise that Serco’s race to the bottom tactics of targeting staff and degrading services is the cause of three disputes with Unite members across three different sectors. “
The union is advocating that outsourced services should be brought back in house by councils wherever possible.
A Serco spokesperson said, "We were surprised by Unite’s decision to call a ballot as we believe we have been fully transparent with the union at every stage and we have willingly and openly shared information. All Serco’s employees are covered by the same sickness procedures and policies to ensure consistency and fair treatment across the business. We remain open to meet the Unite to discuss the issues they have raised.”
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
April 18, 2021