Council staff to take action (From Free Press Series)

Council staff to take action

WORKERS at Torfaen Council have agreed to support next week's proposed industrial action by striking in protest at pension changes. Staff will join up to 1.5 million council workers in a strike next Tuesday to protest government plans to scrap a rule that allows some to retire on a full pension at 60.

The action could spell disruption for thousands of schoolchildren as local schools may close for the day because the strike covers caretakers, catering staff and school crossing patrols.

The council will be operating a severely reduced service and only dealing with genuine emergencies, so members of the public are being advised to either contact the council before the action or wait until normal services resume the following day.

Rubbish collections will also be affected and people whose bins are collected on Tuesdays will, next week, get their collection a day late. A council spokesman said: "This action will affect collections for the rest of the week all of them taking place a day later than normal. So residents who normally put their refuse out on a Friday should put them out on Saturday."

However, black box recycling collections will only be affected in some areas as the scheme is operated by both Torfaen Council and Torfaen Community Recycling.

He said: "We would like residents to put their black box out on their normal day for collection. They will either be collected on that day or a day later."

Trade Unions members voted for strike action by national ballot. They are angry at proposals to scrap the scheme, which entitles staff to retire at 60 on full pension, but councils say that costs mean the age must rise to 65 for all employees.