Update, Monday 12 September

Because Barnet council have decided not to admit Unison members taking a half-day strike tomorrow onto the premises, picket lines are from 7-10am at the Oakleigh Road North and Brunswick Park entrances to the North London Business Park. Barnet Alliance will be supporting the Unison members from early in the morning, and at the rally outside Hendon Town Hall, 5.30-7pm.

Background

Around 400 Barnet council staff, members of the Unison trade union, are taking part in a half-day strike on Tuesday 13 September.

They are striking against the proposed change of employer to a private sector company, if the council’s outsourcing plan, the One Barnet Programme goes ahead.

The workers on strike include:

Trading standards & licensing; Land charges; Planning & development; Building control & structures; Environmental health; Highways strategy, highways network management, highways traffic & development, highways transport & regeneration; Strategic planning & regeneration; Cemeteries & crematoria; Parking services; Revenues & benefits

Barnet Alliance is supporting the strike. We don’t want our council services outsourced either, as we don’t believe this will save money. What it will do is make our services more unaccountable, and, as the private sector companies taking them over try to boost their profits, could even lead to worse services.

We don’t support Barnet council staff being forced into private sector employment, where, in time, they are likely to have their pay and conditions of employment reduced.

Here are some ways you can support Barnet Unison strikers on Tuesday:

• Send a message of support to [email protected]
• Join picket lines from 7-10am at the Oakleigh Road North and Brunswick Park entrances to the North London Business Park.
• Join strikers as they distribute copies of our “Our Barnet” newspaper around the borough in the afternoon.
• Join strikers and the Barnet Alliance at the rally outside the council meeting in the evening. Rally: 5.30-7pm, Hendon Town Hall, The Burroughs, London NW4 4BG. Council meeting starts at 7pm.
• Follow Barnet Unison on Twitter: @barnet_unison.

For more details, please email [email protected] or Vicki, Barnet trades council [email protected].