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Labour urge Boris to intervene as police staff announce strike plans

February 6, 2014 by Martin Hoscik

Labour want the Mayor to intervene in the dispute.
Labour want the Mayor to intervene in the dispute.
The Met’s civilian workers – including 999 call handlers and custody suite staff – will hold a 48-hour strike next week in a dispute over pay.

Members of the PCS union are unhappy that the force is imposing a 1% pay increase in line with the government’s pay cap policy.

The union says the policy isn’t binding and that the Met is breaching an existing agreement by following it.

Staff are also “angry” over proposals to market test some functions and roles, a process which could lead to jobs being privatised.

The 48-hour stoppage on 12 and 13 February will coincide with the next planned Tube strikes by RMT and TSSA members.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “It ought to bring shame on the Met Police that staff who help to keep London safe are being driven into the arms of loan sharks because of low pay.

“The Met Police is not short of money and does not have to ape the government’s politically motivated pay policies that have fuelled the longest decline in wages on record.”

One London Assembly member has urged the Mayor to intervene and end the dispute.

Joanne McCartney, Labour’s Police and Crime spokesperson on the Assembly, said: “Boris Johnson is the directly elected Police Commissioner for London and the buck stops with him. He must make sure the management of the Metropolitan Police sit down with the PCS and listen to their concerns.”

Assembly Member McCartney said the staff at the centre of the dispute are “some of the lowest paid members of staff at the Met” and were “deeply concerned about the escalating cost of living in our city.”

She added: “It is not right that staff of the Metropolitan Police have to use food banks to survive or are forced to take leave at the end of the month as they cannot afford to travel to work.

“They have also faced job losses meaning the remaining staff are having to plug the gap. I have today written to the Mayor asking him to ensure the Met Police’s management sit down with the union and find an agreed way forward.”

“At City Hall the Mayor agreed to taper the 1% rise received this year so lower paid staff received more than this to reflect increasing costs. If Boris can take this approach at City Hall then why not at the Met?”

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