23 August 2002
Councils in the capital are facing more strike action after three unions agreed to step up their campaign for an increase in London weighting this week.
At a meeting between Unison, the T&G and GMB on August 21, union leaders agreed to press ahead with a one-day strike. No date has yet been set, with the GMB and the T&G closing their ballots a few weeks ago, but the end of September looks likely, to coincide with the Labour Party conference.
Unison has already held four days of action over the issue.
The unions, which represent 100,000 workers, are pressing for a £4,000 flat-rate London weighting payment to replace the current sliding scale that pays between £1,500 and £2,500 for inner and outer areas of the capital.
Unions and employers, the Greater London Provisional Council, are due to meet on September 12 for last-ditch talks. But a spokeswoman for the Association of London Government told Public Finance that 'nothing had changed' since the last Unison strike in July.
'Councils simply don't have the £250m needed to meet their demand. Funding the claim would mean a £90 council tax rise or 11,000 job losses,' she said.
She added that the London boroughs had been waiting for the resolution of the council workers' national pay dispute, which has overshadowed the London issue, to find out how much it will cost before making any offer. Employers are consulting councils on the two-year Acas deal – which will see pay rises of between 7.7% and 10.9% – until September 16.
Unison hit back, accusing employers of using a review from the Greater London Authority, published in July, and an Audit Commission investigation into recruitment, due out on September 3, as excuses to stall the unions.
Julia Coleman, Unison and the trade union side secretary, said: 'We hope that they will realise the seriousness of the situation and if they do not deliver on September 12 our members will deliver further industrial action.'
PFaug2002
