Parking 'Free-for-all' Ends as Strike Called Off |
|
Tickets being issued again after staff receive improved pay deal
December 10, 2024 Hopes of a parking free-for-all in the borough’s town centres over Christmas have been dashed after parking attendants in Hounslow called off their strike. Unite the Union says that the industrial action, which also included CCTV operators, was cancelled following an improved offer from NSL, the company to which the council has outsourced enforcement . Staff voted overwhelmingly to accept a 10 per cent increase from November 2024 plus an additional 5.3 per cent increase from April 2025. Moped and car drivers will also receive an uplift of 40 pence an hour from April 2025. The strike action began on 5 December and was due to continue to the end of January. Unite had said this would have meant no parking enforcement in the borough’s town centres during the Christmas shopping period. The parking attendants work out of bases by the Town Hall in Chiswick and from Bridge Road in Hounslow. NSL is owned by Marston Holdings. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said, “By standing together in their union, NSL’s Hounslow workforce secured this excellent pay deal. Once again, Unite’s total commitment to winning better jobs, pay and conditions is putting money in our members’ pockets.” Unite regional officer Lui D’Cunha said:, “This deal is a prime example of why it pays to be in a union. Workers wanting improved wages and working conditions should join Unite and organise their colleagues to do the same.” The council’s agreement with NSL runs until December 2025 after which the council says it will ‘consider all available options and providers’.
|