{"id":17829,"date":"2019-04-15T16:47:58","date_gmt":"2019-04-15T15:47:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=17829"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:56:51","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:56:51","slug":"newham-council-strike-ballot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=17829","title":{"rendered":"Second strike vote for Newham council"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<p>Beleaguered Newham council is facing a second strike ballot over the way it treats a key group of workers, Unite said today (April 15).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Unite said that 75 employees working in housing repairs are being balloted for strike action over a myriad of issues, including a plan to introduce a new pay structure which cuts pay by 20 per cent and pay deductions without speaking to the individuals concerned.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The ballot of the carpenters, electricians and plumbers begins on\u00c2\u00a0April 23 and closes on\u00c2\u00a0May 22.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>This follows last week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s revelation that 45 refuse workers will also be balloted for strike action over the council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s failure to progress them through the grading structure which should have commenced 12 years ago. Unite estimates that individuals could have lost up to \u00c2\u014120,000 each as a result.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is becoming increasingly apparent that Newham council is beleaguered by a very poor employment relations culture \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the results of which are coming home to roost,&#8221; said Unite regional officer Onay Kasab.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bTo paraphrase Oscar Wilde\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Lady Bracknell: for the council to have one strike ballot may be regarded as a misfortune; to have two looks like carelessness,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLast week, Unite highlighted the appalling treatment of the refuse workers over the last decade and today we are focusing on the treatment of our members in housing repairs.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey are faced with a proposal to introduce a new pay structure which axes pay by 20 per cent from 1 June this year; deductions from pay without speaking to staff first; and a culture of bullying,&#8221; Kasab went on to say.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bOur members have also been exposed to deadly asbestos during the course of their work. However, the council engaged a contractor who clearly had no idea how to deal with asbestos \u00e2\u20ac\u201c its workmen were seen sweeping up dust.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite is conducting these two strike ballots to defend the pay and health &amp; safety of our members. However, Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s door is always open for constructive talks with the council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s management to resolve these issues and formulate a new positive model for employment relations.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Beleaguered Newham council is facing a second strike ballot over the way it treats a key group of workers, Unite said today (April 15). &nbsp; Unite said that 75 employees working in housing repairs are being balloted for strike action over a myriad of issues, including a plan to introduce a new pay structure which [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[349,1147,88],"wps_subtitle":"Newham council\u00c2\u00a0 faces second strike ballot over treatment of workers","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17829"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17829"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25355,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17829\/revisions\/25355"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}