Greenwich housing maintenance staff postpone strike action – for now

By Kelsey McCabe

Housing maintenance workers in Greenwich have paused strikes planned for next week to allow the local authority more time to return to negotiations and resolve the dispute.

More than 150 maintenance workers employed by Greenwich council, all members of the union Unite, were scheduled to strike on July 1 and July 2 after the council introduced plans to reduce wages by up to 30 percent over a four-year period.

Other complaints included the proposal of a “fire and rehire” process to reduce worker pay.

The pause was announced after the council did not proceed with these plans following initial strike action earlier this month, in order to give the council more time to return to negotiations.

Unite regional officer Mary Summers said: “Next week’s strikes have been suspended and the industrial action paused to allow Greenwich council the opportunity to confirm that it will not use the disgraceful practice of fire and rehire on its own workers.”

Strikes planned for July 15 and July 16 are still scheduled to proceed.

Pictured top: Strike action paused but the clock is still ticking at Woolwich town hall (Picture: Wikimedia Commons/Stephen Craven)