More than 200 parking wardens and environmental officers across Wandsworth, Richmond, Lambeth and Kingston have stopped issuing tickets as a form of industrial action.
Parking dispute: traffic wardens employed by APCOA are in dispute in Lambeth and three other boroughs
This is the continuation of a dispute which has seen members of the GMB union take 14 days of strike action since November.
The action “will continue indefinitely or until APCOA agree to settle the dispute”, the GMB said, referring to APCOA Parking, Europe’s longest-established full service parking management company, which holds the contracts for parking wardens in the four boroughs.
GMB union members voted to take action over what they describe as “a slew of workplace issues”, including:
- No offer of a “fair” pay rise after months of talks
- Employers not negotiating in good faith
- No recognition agreed for contracts in Kingston and Richmond
- Harassment and intimidation of union members
Alex Etches, the regional organiser for the GMB, said: “APCOA is refusing to settle this dispute, which is forcing our members to take this unprecedented action.
“Despite this type of industrial action never having been tried before, we are predicting complete disfunction when it comes to traffic and parking across south London.”
The union says that its members will not be losing any pay during the industrial action, “but solely costing this privateer and the local authorities, who are yet to learn that workers are the ones that make these contracts run”, Etches said.
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