More Than 300 Dundee Council Workers Begin Strike

More than 300 construction workers at Dundee City Council are currently on strike.

Joiners, plumbers, electricians, laborers, and scaffolders were scheduled for a three-week strike today. After that, they would strike every day until June 23.

An all-out strike is scheduled to start on April 4 and last for three weeks until April 28. Thereafter, there will be rounds of daily action until June 23.

According to the union, 95% of employees supported the strike campaign against the council’s plans to privatize services and in opposition to a system that tracks vehicles.

The vehicle tracking system has been in use for some time to protect staff and manage our fleet as effectively as possible for the benefit of residents, according to the council, which denies that it is planning to outsource the services.

The cause of the strike

Claims that Dundee City Council is preparing to outsource public contracts to private contractors are at the heart of the disagreement.

“Unite’s trades workers at Dundee City Council are determined to hold management to account over outsourcing plans,” the union’s general secretary Sharon Graham said.

If the council does not withdraw this disastrous proposal, the strike will initially last for three weeks before further action is taken.

“Unite will fight to ensure that these services remain in public hands and stand up for the jobs, pay, and conditions of our members.”

‘We continue to engage in dialogue with trade union representatives to address the issues raised, and we continue to believe they can be resolved without strike action,’ a council spokesperson said.

See what Bob Macgregor, a Unite industrial officer said –

The call-out payments and the telematics tracking policy for council vehicles are other issues that Unite members are criticizing council management for. The tracking system, according to the trade union, is not being used by council management to improve fleet management and make better use of idle vehicles, but rather to monitor employee movements.

Bob Macgregor, a Unite industrial officer, continued, “We need absolute assurances that Dundee City Council has no plans to contract out any of its services to private companies. The workforce’s legitimate concerns, including what we believe to be the improper monitoring of council vehicles, have gone unacknowledged by council management. Unite will fight for its members at every turn.