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Government workers strike
Rhiannon McDowall16/ 7/2008
DEFIANT Macclesfield council staff will strike today over the pay rise they say is "peanuts".
Unison, the local government workers union, was yesterday making final plans to stage a national two-day walk-out today and tomorrow (Wednesday, July 16 and Thursday, July 17).
The town’s members are set to gather to rally against the below inflation pay rise of 2.45 per cent they have been offered.
Phil Mason, branch secretary, said: "We’re going to be handing out peanuts to represent their offer because that is what it is, peanuts."
Strikers include a range of service workers who affect residents’ daily lives so warnings have been sent out about disrupted services.
School cleaners and caterers, and home and social carers for the elderly and disabled will be off-duty.
Parents and pupils at Tytherington High School have also been warned that the yellow-bus run by Cheshire County Council to and from the school will not be carrying out its usual trips.
Crematorium staff, teaching assistants, librarians, refuse collectors and social workers are all among the 600,000 nationwide workers taking part in industrial action against the government.
Jonathan Sewell, library assistant at Macclesfield Library and Unison steward, said: "Please would you pass on to your readers apologies from striking Macclesfield Library staff for any inconvenience caused.
"We hope you will understand that this action is only being taken as a last resort.
"With inflation rising and particularly food and fuel prices eating into our living expenses, we feel enough is enough.
"It is with regret that we take such drastic action."
The Government employees will be outside the Town Hall and the Works Services Depot on Commercial Road between 7 and 10am, armed with handfuls of peanuts.
Frank Hont, the north west regional secretary, said that they had rejected the pay offer because this was substantially below the rate of inflation and amounts to a pay cut.
He said: "Many of our members are already on low wages – some 250,000 local authority workers are on £6.50 an hour, just 50p more than the minimum wage.
"They are going on strike because they can’t afford not to."
Members of the local government workers union Unison are seeking a pay rise of 6pc, or 50p and hour, whichever is greater.
BIN COLLECTIONS today and tomorrow will be affected if the planned strike goes ahead. MBC has therefore arranged collections of black bins to take place the following week, when extra sacks will also be collected and taken in place of the green bins. Scheduled garden waste and recycling collections will not take place until the next scheduled days.
MACCLESFIELD Library will be open from 1-5pm today (July 16), and between 1-7pm tomorrow (July 17).
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17/07/2008 at 04:07
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22/07/2008 at 13:05