Bromley’s traffic wardens are taking industrial action from Monday week, November 10, after rejecting what they call a “poverty pay” offer of a 50p per hour increase which would still leave them earning below the London Living Wage.
Work to rule: the traffic wardens’ action in Bromley won’t see all parking offenders escape sanction
Bromley Council’s traffic enforcement officials are employed by German-based parking firm APCOA.
According to the council’s most recently available figures, Bromley’s 40-or-so parking wardens issued 79,000 on-street PCNs in 2023-2024, generating £6.5million in penalty income for the council.
APCOA want to pay their employees in Bromley just £13 per hour. APCOA staff doing similar work in Lambeth and Wandsworth are paid £15 per hour. The London Living Wage is set at £13.85 per hour.
The Bromley workers, members of the GMB union, have opted to work-to-rule, rather than escalate to full strike action, in order to avoid losing out on their wages.
Craig Prickett, GMB’s regional organiser, said: “APCOA’s offer of £13 an hour is unacceptable when other contractors in similar roles are being paid significantly more.
“Our claim for £17 per hour is reasonable, benchmarked against other companies in the sector and reflects the responsibility of the role.
“Bromley Council can’t hide behind its contractor – they commission and profit from this contract and the workers who deliver it deserve a proper wage.
“Our members will maintain the contract, but they will do only what they are paid to do, nothing more. We call on APCOA and Bromley Council to come to the table with a meaningful offer – not a few pence here and a few pence there, which is just further frustrating the members.”
The GMB says its members will be “taking continuous industrial action”.
The action means the traffic wardens will:
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- Perform only their contractual duties (no voluntary or discretionary tasks)
- Not issue Penalty Charge Notices “beyond what is strictly required”
- Decline non-contractual overtime or extra duties
“This is likely to cause serious disruption to parking enforcement across Bromley, especially in the run-up to the busy Christmas period,” the GMB said today.
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