Strike to hit schools, libraries and rubbish collections (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Nostalgia

Visit our nostalgia section Click here »

Text your news & pics

Text your news or pictures (plus 'SLNEWS' or 'SLPICS') to 80360. click here for details »

News RSS Feed

Strike to hit schools, libraries and rubbish collections

7:59am Wednesday 16th July 2008

comment Comments (9) Have your say »

By Guardian Reporter »

Tens of thousands of council workers and civil servants are set to strike today in a row over pay.

Members of three unions have voted to strike leading to closures of schools, libraries, museums and civic offices across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Rubbish collections will also be cancelled and other services disrupted.

Unison and Unite said they expected more than half a million workers to join the 48-hour walkout after they rejected a 2.45 per cent officer.

Members of the Public and Commercial Services union - which includes driving test examiners and coastguards - will take industrial action in the next few days in a separate argument.

Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said: "The pounds in local government workers' pockets are turning to pennies. The cost of everyday essentials like milk, bread, petrol, gas and electricity are going through the roof - our members cannot afford to take another cut in their pay.

"Strike action is always a last resort but we have been left with no choice. Local government employers are sitting on £3 billion worth of efficiency savings made by our members they could use to settle the strike now.

"There is no need to ask the Government for more, no need to put up council taxes and no need to cut jobs or services."

What do you think of the strike action? Have your say using the comment feature below.

Find out how the strike has affected your area:

To read what has happened in Merton click here
To read what has happened in Hounslow click here
To read what has happened in Sutton click here
To read what has happened in Kingston click here
To read what has happened in Croydon click here
To read what has happened in Richmond click here

Print article » Email to a friend »

Your Say YourLocal Guardian

Ricky, Sheen says...
11:48am Wed 16 Jul 08

Will anyone notice if the dust bin men strike? Either way, not much gets collected, and half of it ends up blowing down the street.

Report this post »

ANNE GILES, SELSDON says...
1:04pm Wed 16 Jul 08

Write to your local councillor or your streetscene officer if that happens. They will soon rectify the problem. At least - they do that here.

Report this post »

helen, morden says...
2:17pm Wed 16 Jul 08

WHY DONT THESE PEOPLE LOOK AT WHAT THEY ARE GOING TO EARN BEFORE THEY TAKE THE JOB!! OR DO WHAT I DID WHEN I WASNT HAPPY WITH THE PAY I WAS GETTING 'CHANGE MY JOB!!'

Report this post »

Mike, Croydon says...
2:39pm Wed 16 Jul 08

With a Soft Incompetent Labour Gov. come the return of the Trade Unions and strikes. Not sure how many people remember those days but Thatcher got rid of all that, some people will NEVER, EVER LEARN, I really hope that the people who voted for Labour suffer the most, DIVINE JUSTICE.

Report this post »

John, Barnes says...
5:34pm Wed 16 Jul 08

When I worked in local govt the saying was 20% of staff do 80% of the work.

It's almost impossible to sack council staff from their cushy, well paid jobs with flexi time, lots of leave and not much productivity.

If you don't believe me then go along to your local office and see how many people are walking around with kettles.

Report this post »

Pete, Surbiton says...
7:15pm Wed 16 Jul 08

helen wrote:
WHY DONT THESE PEOPLE LOOK AT WHAT THEY ARE GOING TO EARN BEFORE THEY TAKE THE JOB!! OR DO WHAT I DID WHEN I WASNT HAPPY WITH THE PAY I WAS GETTING \'CHANGE MY JOB!!\'

I think you need to understand, many of the people who work for local government organisations don't have the necessary skills, qualifications or experience needed to be able to work in the private sector. If they did, then they wouldn't be working for local government.

That said, local government work can be a good way of scratching up experience for a person who would otherwise be long-term unemployed. But it generally doesn't pay a lot. That's just the way it is.

If John from Barnes thinks they pay a lot, he ought to apply for one of the jobs himself.

Report this post »

John, Barnes says...
11:38pm Wed 16 Jul 08

If you had read my comment Pete you would know that I used to work for a council.

The truth is that the strikers are the lowest paid front line staff who do the work.

All the heads & directors who do no work and won't strike will benefit from pay increases - and that's sad

Report this post »

Paul, Upper Norwood says...
2:16pm Thu 17 Jul 08

Mike wrote:
With a Soft Incompetent Labour Gov. come the return of the Trade Unions and strikes. Not sure how many people remember those days but Thatcher got rid of all that, some people will NEVER, EVER LEARN, I really hope that the people who voted for Labour suffer the most, DIVINE JUSTICE.

Spot on Mike.

Look at all the ruined industries:

Mining

Dockers

Cars

to name a few and look at the convenors who caused their downfall: Red Robbo for one (Derek Robinson).

With this shower in power and recently Red Ken as mayor and people like Bob Crow being allowed to call strikes at their whim what do you expect?

This Country has been ruined by Tony Bliar for the sake of his CV and the boot has been put in for the coup de grace by Brown.

Utterly appalling situation and it will take years to get out of the New Labour mire into which we have all sunk.

Report this post »

George, Twickenham says...
11:15am Fri 18 Jul 08

It was Thatcher, shortsighted on energy needs who destroyed the mining industry, whilst we build more cars than we have ever done and docks are run very efficiently. Get your facts right, Paul.

Report this post »

Your sayYourLocal Guardian

comment Add your comment

Register for a FREE Richmond and Twickenham Times account and you can have your say on today's news and sport by adding comments on articles we publish. The best comments may even get published in the paper.

Please register now or sign in below to continue.