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From The Socialist newspaper, 6 November 2019
Double-dealing Hackney council bosses face renewed strike action
Hackney Council drivers and passenger assistants in the Special Education Needs Service celebrate winning their pay claim (Click to enlarge)
Hackney council bosses have reneged on an agreement with drivers and passenger escorts, members of the Unite union, on school buses for disabled children.
Unite said that Hackney's council's u-turn for its 38 members now meant that future industrial action was very much back on the table.
The workers called off their strike on 9 October in a long-running dispute over payments for working split shifts. But now the council is insisting that the staff use contractual leave days for the training days.
Unite regional officer Onay Kasab said: "We reached a settlement that agreed the training and development sessions would take place during paid work time. This was a vital component that paved the way for our members to call off their strike action.
"However, when we met council officers to discuss implementation of the agreement, we were told that staff would need to use their 'inset days' for training as part of the arrangements. For clarity, the inset days for these staff are not used for training - they are paid leave days.
"Clearly, the council is unhappy that staff receive paid inset days which are, in effect, contractual leave days. But this is a completely different issue and not linked to this dispute.
"The employer's actions in this case do not just demonstrate bad faith as far as negotiated agreements are concerned - they demonstrate appalling opportunism.
"Unless the employer abides by what was clearly understood, negotiated and agreed then we will restart the industrial action campaign, including strike action."
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In The Socialist 6 November 2019:
News
Whose side are you on? Tories out - Corbyn in with anti-austerity and socialist policies
Tony Blair launches manifesto to sabotage a Corbyn government
Grenfell fire inquiry spin deflects blame from establishment
General election 2019 round-up
Berlin Wall
Socialism 2019
Elections, strikes and revolutions: Socialism 2019 - daring to fight
PCS: "Under the right leadership workers are prepared to fight"
McDonald's: 'I'm fighting for £15 an hour now because I have to work from 7am to midnight'
Northern Ireland: Uniting the working class to transcend division
Preparing to shape events internationally
International socialist news and analysis
End repression in Chile - freedom for soldier David Veloso
Workplace news
PCS: Pay, jobs, pensions... Vote for a fighting general secretary
UCU votes for pay and pension strikes
Incompetent bosses use tech to bully us
£1 million cuts plan: Peabody housing workers announce strike ballot
Forbo Flooring Derbyshire strike
West Midlands Trains guards to strike
Double-dealing Hackney council bosses face renewed strike action
Minimum wage
Minimum wage debate: what should we be demanding?
Readers' opinion
TV: Crime and Punishment - this brutal watch is a damning indictment of cuts and capitalism
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