Housing workers in Southwark to strike over less amount of annual leave

Nearly 160 essential housing and estate services workers in the London Borough of Southwark are set to strike later this month over the council’s approach to annual leave.

Unite members, who perform repairs and maintenance on council-owned housing stock and the council’s own properties get up to 12 fewer days annual leave than management grades in administrative positions at the council and the lowest paid technicians get two fewer days than higher paid colleagues in the same department.

Despite negotiations by Unite, the council has refused to compromise or offer additional leave to housing workers to bring them up to the same level.

Workers will now head to the picket line to voice their anger from 28th-30th January.

Sharon Graham, general secretary at Unite, said: “It is a disgrace that a chief executive of a council, on hundreds of thousands of pounds a year to sit behind a desk, gets more annual leave than our hard-working members on the frontline of council services.

“Our members repair and maintain homes to ensure they are fit for habitation and yet are being told they can’t have the same number of days leave as the number crunchers in head office.

“That is just plain wrong and our members are prepared to take strike action to show their anger at such policies. They will have the full backing of their union in this dispute.”

Workers in the housing and estates team currently start on 27 days of leave a year.