Social workers in Newham on strike again

Social workers at Newham Council called a 24-hour strike again
as part of an ongoing pay dispute.

Around 70 of the council’s 120 social workers took part in
the Unison strike on Monday because of the social services
department’s policy of making market supplement payments to
some social workers. Workers also walked out in June in protest at
the payments.

Kathryn Hudson, Newham social services director, said: “There
was no disruption to our services as a result of the strike action.
We are continuing our talks with Unison and are making good
progress.”

Michael Gavin, branch chair of Newham Unison, said: “It is high
time the council made a commitment to treat all its social workers
equally – that is the only way to stem the flood of staff
leaving.”