Westminster faces King's Coronation chaos as traffic wardens strike
People will see how important traffic wardens work is as King makes his way from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Cathedral, says GMB union
GMB, the union for parking wardens, has announced civil enforcement officers working in Westminster have voted to strike on the day of the King's Coronation.
GMB members employed by the council’s contractor NSL and are in dispute over the employer’s failure to agree a cost of living pay award after forcing drastic changes onto workers' terms and conditions in a wide-ranging restructure.
The employer has now been notified that the union members will be taking action short of a strike from 1 to 8 May and strike action on 2, 4 and 6 May, the latter of which is the day of the coronation procession and ceremony.
Alex Etches, GMB Organiser said:
“This is a great example of a simple truth in the world that is rarely acknowledged: that behind each great historical event are hundreds of ordinary workers working behind the scenes.
“Working people like our members might seem to do unimportant jobs, but they are the engines of history.
“This dispute is simply about working people being paid a decent wage for the physically demanding and very important job that they do.
“If NSL fail to make a sensible offer in time, we’ll see just what an important job our members do as the King makes his way from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Cathedral on Saturday 6 May.
“This is a company which has grown enormously rich off the public purse [1], all the while leaving our members doing a difficult and dangerous job for less than they deserve.”
Media enquiries:
Alex Etches on 07581 021 081
Notes to Editors:
[1] NSL is part of the Marston Holdings Group which has an annual turnover of £255,108,000 (2021) and has shareholders funds totalling £275,886,000 (2021).
