Payroll staff to be balloted over strike action

By Tara O’Connor, Local Democracy Reporter

A quarter of staff in one Croydon council department could lose their jobs in cuts.

Staff working in the payroll section could soon go on strike over the risk of jobs being lost.

The GMB union said employees should not pay for the council’s “disastrous financial position”.

Members of the union in the council’s payroll department will soon be asked whether they want to walk out.

The union claims a proposed restructure of the department puts a quarter of the jobs at risk.

It claims those affected are “predominantly women from black and minority ethnic backgrounds”.

Rachael Baylis, GMB organising assistant, said:  “The current situation at Croydon council is not the fault of those who are now being faced with job losses and increased workload, it is down to financial mismanagement and severe cuts to Local Authority Funding.

“The GMB opposes these potentially discriminatory restructure plans and wants to work with the council to find a solution that does not lead to yet another round of redundancies and increased workloads for remaining staff.

“Our members deserve so much better than what we are seeing – they just want to be treated fairly.”

It comes four months after the council was forced to effectively declare bankruptcy at the end of 2022, for the third time in just two years. It admitted it could not balance its budget for 2023/24, a legal requirement, without the government stepping in.

The council was given special permission by the government to increase council tax by 15per cent this April and also given £224million of bailout loans to get its finances back on track. The council also hopes government support will include writing off £540m of its other debts.

The strike ballot for payroll staff is due to open on Monday and close on April 3.

A Croydon Council spokeswoman said: “The council needs to make difficult but necessary decisions to address its financial challenges and to become smaller, more efficient and financially sustainable for the future.

“The council has been consulting with payroll employees on proposals to restructure the team. All feedback from affected employees has been fully considered and the council will continue to update affected employees on the progress of the consultation.”

Pictured top: Croydon Town Hall (Picture: Tara O’Connor/BBC Local Democracy Reporting Service)