Dates for Next Round of Ealing Parking Strikes Announced
Industrial action set to continue through to November
Parking service workers picket Ealing Council offices. Picture: Unite the Union
October 3, 2024
Unite the Union has confirmed the dates for the next round of strikes by staff employed by Greener Ealing Ltd (GEL) in borough parking services.
The dispute over union recognition has been ongoing since late August and the previous action ran up until 18 September. Now staff will be resuming the strike from next Monday (7 October) until 3 November.
The union says the action will severely disrupt on-street parking, including the monitoring of residential streets where permits are required, and council car parks.
Further industrial action dates will be called if the dispute is not resolved.
Around 40 workers employed by council-owned GEL are unwilling to transfer their union membership to GMB which is recognised by the company. They say their roles are completely different to the rest of GEL waste management workforce. As a distinct group, they want Unite, which has represented the workers for a decade, recognised for collective bargaining on their behalf. Most had previously worked for Serco before being transferred to GEL when Ealing Council decided to take parking enforcement in house.
The union says staff are particularly unhappy with Deirdre Costigan, now MP for Ealing Southall, and council leader Peter Mason, who have previously been supportive but are now refusing to back their call to remain with Unite.
There is additional anger over the employment of agency staff and temporary workers during the strike to continue enforcement. The union claims this is potentially unlawful. Ealing Council did not answer when asked to provide a response on this suggestion.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said, “It is disgraceful that a Labour council is refusing to recognise these workers’ right to be represented by their long-term union. Councillors’ excuses that Greener Ealing is responsible for this dispute when it is completely owned by the council will not wash.
“Our members have been betrayed by Ealing’s elected politicians and Unite is supporting them 100 per cent in their strike action.”
Unite regional officer Lui D’Cunha said, “Ealing Council’s broken promises and dirty tricks have only strengthened our members’ resolve. This dispute will continue to escalate and strikes will not end until Greener Ealing our members’ chosen union is recognised.”
The council’s position is that this is a matter to be decided between GEL and the union and that it is not the employer of the workforce. It claims that during the previous round of strikes there has been little disruption and measures have been put in place to ensure residents are not negatively affected. A spokesperson also warned that restrictions should be followed as normal as enforcement will be taking place.
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. |
