Staff at all 14 of Bromley’s libraries will start an indefinite strike tomorrow (Wednesday 28 March) over a ‘paltry and insulting’ pay offer, Unite, the country’s largest union, said today (Tuesday 27 March).
The strike by the 36 workers comes after the breakdown of pay talks yesterday (Monday 26 March) between Unite and Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL), which runs the library service on behalf of Bromley council.
The strike is the latest to hit the controversial Tory-controlled council which has made outsourcing the lynchpin of its polices.
Unite regional officer Onay Kasab said: “Talks broke down yesterday on the issue of pay, and the insulting and paltry offer that GLL came up with.
“We began talks on a compromise based on the local government pay offer, which is only two per cent for most people, but with higher increases for some of the lower paid. However, the company yesterday confirmed it cannot commit to this formula.
“Therefore, having transferred out from local government in November 2017, our members are already being penalised and seeing their pay cut.
“We have submitted a Freedom of Information request to the council to discover the machinations and promises that have been made in the confidential transfer agreement for the libraries to GLL.
“The strike will hit the running of the libraries and cause inconvenience for the public, which we regret, but what we have here is a hard-faced employer trying to screw the last ounce of profit from what should be a public service.
“GLL claims it is the UK’s largest leisure charitable social enterprise and also claims to be a staff-owned trust. Yet the staff who supposedly own the company are told by the bosses that their pay will be eroded after less than six months of being taken over by GLL.”
Unite members in the libraries voted by 100 per cent for strike action.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
For more information please contact Unite senior communications officer Shaun Noble on 020 3371 2060 or 07768 693940. Unite press office is on: 020 3371 2065. Email: shaun.noble@unitetheunion.org
- Unite is Britain and Ireland’s largest trade union with over 1.4 million members working across all sectors of the economy. The general secretary is Len McCluskey.
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