General Election 2010: Strike will force voters to walk past picket lines on poll day

Published on Friday 30 April 2010 23:03

THOUSANDS of voters in Glasgow will have to walk past a picket line to vote next week, after unions decided to call a strike in order to affect several polling stations on 6 May.

The action, which centres on pay cuts to museum and leisure centre staff, means that 16 community centres being used as polling stations will have pickets outside them as they open for voters.

The strike was called for next Thursday to target voters heading for the polls.

Union leaders insisted they are not trying to stop people from casting their ballot but they face legal action by the city's returning officer, City council chief executive George Black, who claimed last night that the move was illegal.

In an angry statement, he claimed that the unions were trying to "intimidate people into not voting".

The authorities fear that the strike could invalidate election results if losing candidates are able to find supporters who did not to vote because they did not want to cross a picket line.

The row centres on moves by Culture and Sport Glasgow (CSG) to freeze or cut pay for its staff. The trust staffs city museums such as the Kelvingrove, which was shut yesterday on the first day of strike action.

The strike was called by Unison, Unite, the GMB and Bectu and is set to be followed by a higher-profile strike on polling day. Organisers last night agreed that they had timed the strike to coincide with the vote.

Regarding strikes outside the community centres, Unison's Sam McCartney said: "The members felt quite clearly that they would have an opportunity (on 6 May] to make the public aware of the industrial action.

"The picket line is not there to stop members of the public from carrying out their legitimate right to vote."

But a spokesman for the Returning Office said last night: "The union wants to extract concessions from their employer by trying to intimidate people into not voting. This is clearly wrong and unethical, and it may be illegal."

He added: "The returning officer has no option but to seek an interim interdict in order to allow people to exercise their democratic right."

It is against the law to wilfully prevent someone from voting, but the unions point out that there are no laws which bar strike action on polling day.