Hackney council attempt to cheat strike
Friend of libraries | 25.07.2002 15:16
The Council have come up with a plan to resolve the Saturday pay dispute issue which has meant that Hackney's libraries have been closed on Saturdays since last Autumn.
The plan involves opening four of the libraries on Wednesdays with permanent staff and using casual part-time
staff to open some on Saturdays. Initially there would only be enough staff to open two libraries on Saturdays which could mean that all other libraries would become permanently closed on Saturdays as finding money for the casual staff will be difficult if not impossible. With casual staff in those libraries that would have Saturday opening, the quality of service will suffer.
This plan has been thought up to get round the Council having to pay Saturday pay rates and has nothing to do with improving the service.
This is a bad deal for users and staff - the offer has been rejected by Unison but it is important that the Council realise that this is not a solution for library users either.
staff to open some on Saturdays. Initially there would only be enough staff to open two libraries on Saturdays which could mean that all other libraries would become permanently closed on Saturdays as finding money for the casual staff will be difficult if not impossible. With casual staff in those libraries that would have Saturday opening, the quality of service will suffer.
This plan has been thought up to get round the Council having to pay Saturday pay rates and has nothing to do with improving the service.
This is a bad deal for users and staff - the offer has been rejected by Unison but it is important that the Council realise that this is not a solution for library users either.
Friend of libraries