Bromley library strike

Staff at all 14 of Bromley’s libraries will start an indefinite strike tomorrow (March 28) over a ‘paltry and insulting’ pay offer, Unite said today (March 27).

The strike by the 36 workers comes after the breakdown of pay talks yesterday (March 26) between Unite and Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL), which runs the library service on behalf of Bromley council.

The strike is the latest to hit the controversial Tory-controlled council which has made outsourcing the lynchpin of its polices.

“Talks broke down yesterday on the issue of pay, and the insulting and paltry offer that GLL came up with,” said Unite regional officer Onay Kasab.

“We began talks on a compromise based on the local government pay offer, which is only two per cent for most people, but with higher increases for some of the lower paid. However, the company yesterday confirmed it cannot commit to this formula.

“Therefore, having transferred out from local government in November 2017, our members are already being penalised and seeing their pay cut.

“We have submitted a Freedom of Information request to the council to discover the machinations and promises that have been made in the confidential transfer agreement for the libraries to GLL.

“The strike will hit the running of the libraries and cause inconvenience for the public, which we regret, but what we have here is a hard-faced employer trying to screw the last ounce of profit from what should be a public service.

“GLL claims it is the UK’s largest leisure charitable social enterprise and also claims to be a staff-owned trust. Yet the staff who supposedly own the company are told by the bosses that their pay will be eroded after less than six months of being taken over by GLL.”

Unite members in the libraries voted by 100 per cent for strike action.