Southampton care staff to go on strike at midnight

Southampton Council care staff will go on strike at midnight today as part of a 24-hour stoppage in protest against plans to transfer a number of customer service and back-office jobs to private company Capita.

Around 2,000 Unison members will go on strike, including care staff, social workers and housing benefits officers, while on Wednesday staff are planning to demonstrate outside the council officers while councillors decide on whether to press ahead with the plans.

A report  to the council meeting calls on members to approve Capita as the preferred bidder for a “strategic services programme”, under which it would provide a number of services under one roof, including customer services, taxation and benefits, human resources and payroll.