Region hit by second day of strikes

Striking council workers hit key services across the region again today with the second day of walkouts over pay.

Thousands of staff from binmen to social workers are taking part in the dispute and said they were hopeful of new negotiations about wages after “seriously disrupting” services yesterday.

Bins have been left unemptied, car parks unmanned and streets uncleaned due the national strike, which is the biggest bout of industrial unrest for years involving more than 600,000 staff nationally.

Adrian Turner, Wolverhampton’s Unison spokesman, said today: The first day was brilliant as far as Unison is concerned and nationally we achieved what we set out to do.

“It is unfortunate but we are dealing with public services and therefore the impact is on the public but it is up to the national employer to do something about this.”

He said Wolverhampton had been left “like a ghost town” due to the walkouts yesterday and claimed even more people had chosen to stay at home in protest today.

“There are people on picket lines all over Wolverhampton and I actually think more people have not gone to work today than they did even yesterday,” he said. “We are hopeful of the employer coming back to the negotiating table now.”

Members of Unison and Unite have taken to the the streets to protest against the Government’s 2.45 per cent pay offer.

Wolverhampton has been one of the hardest-hit areas with 6,000 staff walking out and more than 40 people gathered on the picket line outside the Civic Centre in Wolverhampton this morning.

Classroom assistants, dinnerladies, caretakers, librarians and cleaners are among those who have stopped work.

Housing benefit staff, rent collectors, cooks, architects and surveyors have also stayed away from work for the second day and almost 50 schools have kept their doors locked.

Highfield School, The Kings CofE School, Low Hill Nursery, Elston Hall Primary, Edward The Elder Primary and Fallings Park Primary are among those which have shut as part of the strike action.

Pickets were also out again in force in other areas including the county council offices in Stafford town centre today.

Around 7,000 Unison and Unite members who work for Staffordshire County Council are out and the 48-hour strike action has shut 16 county schools.

Rubbish collections across Dudley continued to be hit by the strike action today with no domestic waste being removed.

Dudley Council say a contingency plan will be put in place to remove rubbish from the households which normally receive the service on Wednesdays and Thursdays .

Elsewhere in the borough the situation was the same as yesterday with leisure centres, libraries and other public buildings remaining open. Five schools have notified the council of full and partial closures.