Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/1110/31645
From The Socialist newspaper, 18 November 2020
Hackney council parking services brought in-house
Hackney Council has been forced to bring its parking wardens in-house, ending a 16-year arrangement with private company APCOA, following a campaign and strike action by the workers, members' of union Unite.
Unite called directly on Hackney Mayor Philip Glanville to have the service run directly by the council earlier this year, after the borough's traffic wardens went on strike with calls for an increase in pay and reports of workers facing physical violence as a 'regular occurrence'.
Unite regional officer Onay Kasab says: "Unite has campaigned, lobbied and taken strike action to win exactly the points now agreed by Hackney Council. It has been a tough campaign, but it has resulted in a great win that should send a clear message to other councils in London that the days of the flawed outsourcing business model are numbered."
The service will now come back under local authority control when the contract ends in March 2022.
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In The Socialist 18 November 2020:
What we think
Tory crisis cannot be 'reset' - workers need a new mass party
News
Tories in turmoil... 'Reset' the whole system! Fight for socialism
Croydon Council declares bankruptcy - no cuts in Croydon or any other council
System failing thousands of children in care
Race disparity gets worse - fight to improve living standards for all
Covid
Covid, vaccines, 'big pharma' - and the need for socialism
Students
Tories student 'evacuation' plan will not work
Wales exams scrapped: What's behind the headline?
Schools
Campaign for school Covid safety must continue
Workplace news
Women workers need strong trade unions to defend their jobs, pay and services
Optare: Right to strike defended
Overcrowded Little Ilford School strikes against more expansion
Strike action ballot at UEL over job cuts
Hackney council parking services brought in-house
TUSC
After Corbyn: TUSC and the fight for working-class political representation
Campaigns
Manchester student occupation - end rip-off rent, free education now
#SpyCops inquiry - Revealing police violence against Socialists
Stop Leicester hospital closure
Youth
Young Socialists organising for our future
Obituary
Letters
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