Ealing residents are being warned to brace for parking disruption in June due to further strikes over union busting by Serco civil enforcement officers, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Thursday 20 May). 

Following a pledge by Ealing’s new council leader Peter Mason to intervene in the dispute, Unite said it hopes a solution can be found before the two 72-hour strikes, beginning on 1 June and 9 June, go ahead. 

Mr Mason’s pledge came after Unite condemned a move by Ealing Council to have a Unite Serco rep removed from his duties. 

A council officer has written to Serco requesting the Unite rep, who has performed his job for two decades, be removed from duties for bringing the council into ‘disrepute’.

The officer justified the decision because the Unite rep stated on social media that Ealing council would lose revenue from Parking Charge Notices during the ongoing strikes by more than 40 Serco civil enforcement officers.

Despite the statement being factually accurate and containing no mention of parking policy motivations, the council is wrongly claiming that the union rep ‘conveys the council as a purely revenue generating authority’.

The same union rep, along with a number of his colleagues, was previously offered severance by Serco in order to undermine trade union organisation, which resulted in the ongoing strike action.

Unite regional officer Clare Keogh said: “Serco has targeted union reps, activists and others with severance offers in order to weaken trade union organisation and undermine negotiations. The company is also using its absence policy to unfairly dismiss employees. 

“Our members will not stand for it and have been left with no other choice but to take strike action. The decision by Ealing Council to demand Serco remove our rep, who has spent 20 years working on behalf of the council, from his duties on spurious charges has compounded the situation. 

“We welcome Peter Mason’s promise to intervene in this dispute. No Labour council should be using the insecurity created by outsourcing to unjustly cast someone from a job they have spent two decades in and the decision needs to be reversed immediately. 

“Unite believes the civil enforcement contract should be brought under the control of Ealing council, as per Labour policy. The union is more than happy to work with Ealing council and Serco to avoid the strikes and parking disruption, as long as binding steps are taken to prevent any further targeting and victimisation of our members.”

ENDS

Ealing’s Labour council ‘actively helping’ Serco ‘hound’ union rep from civil enforcement job

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Unite is Britain and Ireland’s largest union with members working across all sectors of the economy. The general secretary is Len McCluskey.