Lecturers — members of the University and Colleges Union — are taking part in a national strike over pay and pensions. Council workers who are members of the Unison and Unite unions say they’re “protesting over the Conservative-controlled council’s decision to implement pay cuts by dismissing the whole workforce and re-employing them on worse working conditions”.
Unison and Unite will, this week, lodge a complaint at the Southampton Employment Tribunal against Southampton City Council for failing to consult on the mass dismissal of staff. If successful, they say the council could be fined up to three months pay for each employee — amounting to some Ł10 million.
Titanic museum
“Hundreds
of Council workers will demonstrate on Thursday their continued
opposition to the savage pay cuts the Conservative controlled Council is
imposing. Ordinary Council workers will be telling the Conservatives
that they will not accept pay cuts while the Conservatives spend
millions on pensioner Council Tax discounts, a Council Tax freeze and a
Titanic museum which the Council is paying for but will hand over to a
private company when it is built,” said Unison Branch Secretary, Mike
Tucker.