Members of the public services union Unison in Lambeth Libraries will meet on Monday 23 June to set a strike strategy for their dispute with Lambeth council (in south London). The workers are in dispute over staffing levels, redundancies, timetabling, and upgrading the lowest paid staff in the service, following the council’s decision for drastic overall cuts this year.
Throughout the negotiations posts have been added into the proposed structure to improve staffing levels and staff on the lowest grades have had their pay increased. However there are still no written guarantees on rotas not changing and, though there are enough posts for people at present, there are still potential redundancies.
Anti-union laws require two weeks notice for action, so notice to the employer will be sent ahead of the workers’ meeting to decide a strategy, which is expected to include escalation. The strike committee elected at the beginning of the dispute will be extended to ensure there are reps from every site and team. Mass pickets are expected for the strikes.
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