Hackney Library dispute update
Library staff | 06.12.2002 13:54
1. Two-day library strike goes ahead as new Hackney Mayor plans Fat Cat Salaries
2. Hackneys flagship Technology and Learning Centre library was shut down last Thursday and Friday as staff refused to open to the public.
2. Hackneys flagship Technology and Learning Centre library was shut down last Thursday and Friday as staff refused to open to the public.
1. As library workers in the East London borough of Hackney mark the first anniversary of a dispute over Saturday payments with two days of strike action, plans have emerged for sky-high salaries for Hackneys new mayor and cabinet members, which would easily pay for the dispute to be resolved.
Proposals have been drawn up to pay Labour mayor Jules Pipe, elected on October 17, a salary of 65,000, which alone would cover the annual cost of the withdrawn Saturday payments behind the dispute. Cabinet members would receive 35,400 a year if the proposals are implemented.
According to Hackney Unison Joint Branch Secretary Brian Debus, "I dont believe any of these cabinet members spends 35 hours a week on council business - Id be surprised if it was ten hours a week. Yet they are proposing salaries far higher than the average working wage, when most of them already draw a salary from full-time jobs.
"This is a kick in the teeth for Hackneys employees and residents at a time when there is a moratorium on council spending. Given the disastrous financial record of the council over the past five or six years, if their pay was linked to productivity they should be getting a pay cut!"
Last Wednesday a deputation of library users and community groups was accepted by the council after being blocked on three previous occasions. Deputation leader Barbara Gray pointed out: "Most of the library staff earn around 16 to 18,000, far below the average inner London wage of 29,300.
"Hackney councils own housing plan admits the enormous difficulties in buying or renting accommodation in the borough, and the Greater London Authority says inner London pay should increase by up to a third. Yet library staff have suffered a pay cut, while the cabinet plans huge salaries for themselves. It is an absolute disgrace."
Events marking one year of strike action
Monday November 25 marks one year of strike action in which the libraries in Hackney will have been closed every Saturday. A series of events are planned which will be addressed by senior figures from Unison, the national union for local government workers.
2. Hackney Library hit by union work-to-rule
Unison members step up pressure on Council in year-long dispute over Saturday payments
Hackneys flagship Technology and Learning Centre library was shut down last Thursday and Friday as staff refused to open to the public without the minimum staff level set by managers. The crisis resulted from union action not to send staff from other libraries in a stepping up of the year-long dispute over Saturday payments. The TLC was closed on Thursday until 5.30pm, and again on Friday until 1.30.
Last month a ballot allowing secondary official industrial action was successfully passed, and Unison members resolved to stop the system of staff reliefs which have regularly seen Hackneys smaller libraries closed in order to keep the prestige TLC library open.
When the smaller libraries close managers take no action, but on this occasion the head of libraries, assistant director of Community and Learning and an officer from Human Resources were sent in to sort out the crisis. The library eventually opened at 5.30, but Unison members regard their refusal to open as a small victory.
The libraries are short of staff and resources and there is
currently a moratorium on all spending, even though the council is saving 168,000 a year by not opening libraries on Saturdays." One staff member said that since the TLC opened "our work-load both serving the public and processing stock has gone up by at least three times."
The action is part of an on-going dispute over the removal of Saturday payments which is due to go before an industrial tribunal next February 11. Unison believes the amount of money involved (it would cost a mere 65,000 to resolve the dispute) is well within the means of a council which has just awarded the new Mayor Jules Pipe a
65,000 salary, plus 34,500 for cabinet members to do what is essentially a part-time job.
Joint Unison branch secretary commented: "up to now the council and library managers have been quite happy to see small libraries in deprived areas of the borough such as Dalston and Clapton close regularly to keep the flagship TLC open.
"We believe the council does not care about users being deprived of libraries on Saturdays for over a year. We are now taking action to keep the small libraries open and to expose the chronic staff shortages our members in the libraries have to work under.
The library dispute recently received the national support of Unison, Britains largest union, and has attracted solidarity from across the country. Unison National Executive member Roger Bannister told a meeting of library workers this week "the whole of the union stands behind you."After rejecting proposals to resolve the dispute,
Hackney council has set the 6th January to implement a scab labour operation by opening three libraries (out of seven) with casual Saturday staff.
Contact details:
Brian Debus/Will Leng (Hackney Unison Joint Branch Secretaries): 020 8356 4071 or 4130; Theo Russell (Publicity Officer): 020 8356 5230 or 5231.
Proposals have been drawn up to pay Labour mayor Jules Pipe, elected on October 17, a salary of 65,000, which alone would cover the annual cost of the withdrawn Saturday payments behind the dispute. Cabinet members would receive 35,400 a year if the proposals are implemented.
According to Hackney Unison Joint Branch Secretary Brian Debus, "I dont believe any of these cabinet members spends 35 hours a week on council business - Id be surprised if it was ten hours a week. Yet they are proposing salaries far higher than the average working wage, when most of them already draw a salary from full-time jobs.
"This is a kick in the teeth for Hackneys employees and residents at a time when there is a moratorium on council spending. Given the disastrous financial record of the council over the past five or six years, if their pay was linked to productivity they should be getting a pay cut!"
Last Wednesday a deputation of library users and community groups was accepted by the council after being blocked on three previous occasions. Deputation leader Barbara Gray pointed out: "Most of the library staff earn around 16 to 18,000, far below the average inner London wage of 29,300.
"Hackney councils own housing plan admits the enormous difficulties in buying or renting accommodation in the borough, and the Greater London Authority says inner London pay should increase by up to a third. Yet library staff have suffered a pay cut, while the cabinet plans huge salaries for themselves. It is an absolute disgrace."
Events marking one year of strike action
Monday November 25 marks one year of strike action in which the libraries in Hackney will have been closed every Saturday. A series of events are planned which will be addressed by senior figures from Unison, the national union for local government workers.
2. Hackney Library hit by union work-to-rule
Unison members step up pressure on Council in year-long dispute over Saturday payments
Hackneys flagship Technology and Learning Centre library was shut down last Thursday and Friday as staff refused to open to the public without the minimum staff level set by managers. The crisis resulted from union action not to send staff from other libraries in a stepping up of the year-long dispute over Saturday payments. The TLC was closed on Thursday until 5.30pm, and again on Friday until 1.30.
Last month a ballot allowing secondary official industrial action was successfully passed, and Unison members resolved to stop the system of staff reliefs which have regularly seen Hackneys smaller libraries closed in order to keep the prestige TLC library open.
When the smaller libraries close managers take no action, but on this occasion the head of libraries, assistant director of Community and Learning and an officer from Human Resources were sent in to sort out the crisis. The library eventually opened at 5.30, but Unison members regard their refusal to open as a small victory.
The libraries are short of staff and resources and there is
currently a moratorium on all spending, even though the council is saving 168,000 a year by not opening libraries on Saturdays." One staff member said that since the TLC opened "our work-load both serving the public and processing stock has gone up by at least three times."
The action is part of an on-going dispute over the removal of Saturday payments which is due to go before an industrial tribunal next February 11. Unison believes the amount of money involved (it would cost a mere 65,000 to resolve the dispute) is well within the means of a council which has just awarded the new Mayor Jules Pipe a
65,000 salary, plus 34,500 for cabinet members to do what is essentially a part-time job.
Joint Unison branch secretary commented: "up to now the council and library managers have been quite happy to see small libraries in deprived areas of the borough such as Dalston and Clapton close regularly to keep the flagship TLC open.
"We believe the council does not care about users being deprived of libraries on Saturdays for over a year. We are now taking action to keep the small libraries open and to expose the chronic staff shortages our members in the libraries have to work under.
The library dispute recently received the national support of Unison, Britains largest union, and has attracted solidarity from across the country. Unison National Executive member Roger Bannister told a meeting of library workers this week "the whole of the union stands behind you."After rejecting proposals to resolve the dispute,
Hackney council has set the 6th January to implement a scab labour operation by opening three libraries (out of seven) with casual Saturday staff.
Contact details:
Brian Debus/Will Leng (Hackney Unison Joint Branch Secretaries): 020 8356 4071 or 4130; Theo Russell (Publicity Officer): 020 8356 5230 or 5231.
Library staff
