A wildcat strike by parking attendants in Manchester over a sub-inflation pay offer has cost the employer thousands of pounds in unissued fines.
A parking attendant
The Manchester Evening News reports:
Parking attendants in Manchester have gone back to work after a day of industrial action. They turned up for work this morning but refused to go out to work in a continuing row over pay and treatment by management.
Up to 70 parking attendants refused to patrol and issue £60 fines after arriving for work at 7am today at the NCP depot in Ardwick. They were joined by colleagues arriving for the 10am shift. They staged a sit-in at the base and claimed they were threatened with the sack if they did not go out on patrol.
The unofficial strike meant another free-for-all for drivers across Manchester who took advantage of parking without paying. It is unclear how long the strike will last. It was the second wildcat strike this month sparked by parking attendants who say they are disgusted with a `derisory pay rise' and the behaviour of management.
Today's action could again have cost Manchester council, which employs NCP to enforce parking regulations, tens of thousands of pounds as up to 500 parking tickets are issued everyday. Manchester parking attendants are paid about £12,500 a year. They have been offered a two per cent rise.
A collective grievance against management has been submitted by 70 workers. There is no union recognition agreement at the depot and appointed representatives speak for the staff. One parking attendant, who did not want to be named, said: "There are a lot of issues involved and we are sick and tired of the way we are being treated.
"We do a low paid, stressful and difficult job and the pay rise is below inflation. We are unhappy with the management attitude because they just want to ride all over us." A spokesman for NCP said: "We are very disappointed because this is unofficial action. This is not allowed and it's not NCP that says that, it's the law.
"We will talk to any representatives about this because we take our responsibility as an employer seriously. We don't understand why staff have chosen to do this when there is a process ongoing."
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