Our members who work as civil enforcement officers (traffic wardens) for NSL are celebrating a victory following two periods of strike action in September. The action started with four days (2nd – 5th) followed by a further seven days (23rd – 29th). having taken a very hard line the company eventually made an improved offer just before a third period of strike action was due to start.
The settlement sees the hourly pay of the CEOs rise from £8.92-£9 40 with guarantees that for the next three years it will rise in line with increases in the London living wage. hence from April 1, 2016 it will increase to £9.65.
Our NSL members are to be congratulated for their very solid action during which the company brought in scabs from as far away as Manchester to break the strike. the company even tried to discipline one of the strikers for confronting one of the scabs who was wearing his personal identification number whilst on street. the threat of further action in defence of our comrade was enough to make them back down.
NSL was supported by Camden council which paid the company in full for September even though it had failed to meet its key performance indicator of putting enough staff on street.
The strikers would like to thank all those members of the branch who supported them on picket lines and demonstrations and to the other trade union branches who supported their strike fund.
Their action was made possible by the existence of the branch hardship fund. the strikers received basic strike pay from unison at only £15 per day and this isn’t enough to sustain low paid workers through lenghty strike action. The branch’s ability to make hardship payments really made the difference between success and failure. We need to make sure that the branch fund is sustained at its current level so that future action can get the same level of support given to the NSL strikers.