'Election Day Parking Chaos' Promised in Ealing Borough

Serco civil enforcement officers set to strike during Mayoral elections

Serco employees protesting outside Ealing Town Hall last year
Serco employees protesting outside Ealing Town Hall last year. Picture: Helen Pattison

Related Links

Ealing Borough Parking Attendants Vote To Strike

Ealing Council Ranks Second in UK for Parking Fines

Return to Normal for Parking Restrictions in Ealing Borough

Ealing Council To Offer Refunds To Fined Permit Holders

Ealing Council Makes £11million on Parking And Traffic Fines

Ealing Borough Ranked As Most Difficult Place To Park In The UK

ActonW3.com, ChiswickW4.com and EalingToday.co.uk

Participate
Comment on this story on the forum

Civil enforcement officers employed by Serco on behalf of Ealing Council are holding a three day strike which will coincide with the Mayoral election and local by-elections.

The industrial action is taking place from 5-7 May and the votes for London Mayor, the London Assembly and vacant Ealing Council seats takes place on 6 May. On the same day a strike by tube drivers on the Central line is also planned.

Unite the Union says there will be ‘election day parking chaos’ as the Serco employees are responsible for handing out Penalty Charge Notices for parking violations.

They are withdrawing their labour after the company offered severance to elected Unite representatives and activists in what is claimed to be an attempt to undermine trade union organisation.

The union claims Serco instituted a redundancy programme in 2019 with minimal consultation and that it 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 civil enforcement officers will take part in two 72-hour strikes, with the second beginning on 12 May and ending on 14 May.

Unite regional officer Clare Keogh said, “Serco is drinking in the last chance salon. If they do not engage fully and meaningfully with Unite over these issues, our members will begin strike action.

“Our members do not want to strike. But Serco’s attempts to undermine collective bargaining through the targeting of individual staff and the misuse of the absence policy has left them with no choice.

“The strikes, along with the resultant election day parking chaos, can still be avoided if Serco climbs down from its position and engages in good faith to resolve these issues. We call on Ealing Council to intervene to make sure this happens.”

Serco and Ealing Council have been asked for comment.

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 30, 2021

 

Bookmark and Share