Attendants' strike means free parking

Published on Friday 8 June 2007 01:49

PARKING attendants yesterday announced a one day strike - effectively meaning a parking free for all for Edinburgh drivers.

Union leaders said they aimed to ensure no parking tickets are issued during the action on 20 June.

Officials want to force a substantial increase in the basic pay of the lowest paid attendants who earn around 11,500 a year. They have already refused an offer of 4.4 per cent.

The attendants will also start a potentially disruptive overtime ban on 20 June.

And the Transport and General Workers' Union (T&G) have refused to rule out further strikes, claiming their members were not earning "a living wage".

The union said 60 per cent of the attendants, who are employed privately by NCP, are members of the T&G and were expected to join the strike. A picket will be staged outside the NCP depot in the city's Broughton Street, where the attendants are based, in an effort to persuade non-union members to join the walk-out.

NCP said it was confident it would still be able to run the service effectively throughout the industrial action. But Pat Rafferty, senior regional industrial organiser for the T&G, predicted there would be widespread disruption.

He said: "We believe the strike will be fully supported by all staff in NCP. Our members feel undervalued in their jobs. It's an extremely thankless job. They bring a lot of finance into the city.

Parking attendants in Glasgow are paid 9.19 an hour, compared to the current 6.26 in Edinburgh, he added.

Mr Rafferty said: "We are more than happy to sit down and negotiate with employers."

NCP director of communications Tim Cowen said: "We are disappointed that the T&G have decided to proceed with this action and will be working to ensure that the public notice no difference on the day itself.