Agenda item

MOTION - STRIKE ACTION

The following Motions have been notified in accordance with the requirements of Council Procedure Rule 15, to be moved and seconded by the Members indicated:-

 

(1)       London Grants Motion

 

 

To be moved by Councillor Susan Hall and seconded by Councillor Barry Macleod-Cullinane:

 

“This Council commits to:

 

·                    allocating the entire rebate (totalling at least £300,000) obtained this year from the London Boroughs’ Grants Scheme to Harrow Council’s central Grants pot.

 

·                    allocating all and any such future rebates from the London Boroughs’ Grants Scheme to Harrow Council’s central Grants pot.

 

This Council believes such actions will be of enormous benefit to Harrow’s voluntary organisations.”

 

Under the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 14.6, it is considered that the subject matter of this Motion refers to matters within the powers of the Cabinet and the Motion should therefore stand referred to its next meeting.  However, in accordance with 14.6, the Leader of the Opposition has notified her right to exercise her wish that this Motion, falling within the powers of the Executive, be first debated by Council.  The Motion will therefore be subject to debate following the disposal of any Motions falling within the business reserved to Council.

 

 

(2)       Strike Action Motion

 

 

To be moved by Councillor Barry Macleod-Cullinane and seconded by Councillor Susan Hall:

 

“This Council welcomes the efforts made by Harrow East MP Bob Blackman and London Assembly Member Richard Tracey, among others, to convince the Government of the merits of unions being required to secure a majority of their total membership in favour of strike action before undertaking a strike.

 

This Council notes that:

 

·                       the estimated cost to London for each strike on the Underground and transport system is around £50 million per day.

 

·                       a recent opinion poll shows fewer than 1 in 4 believe unions should be able to call a strike without requiring a majority of their membership voting for strike action.

 

·                       last summer’s strikes on the Underground network were trigged by the votes of only a third of RMT members.

 

·                       as an outer-London borough, Harrow relies heavily on the transport links provided by London Underground, and is therefore severely impacted when strike action closes tube lines.

 

This Council believes that it is imperative that legislation is passed swiftly requiring unions to secure a majority of their entire membership in favour of strike action before calling a strike and calls upon Harrow’s three local MPs – Bob Blackman, Nick Hurd and Gareth Thomas – to lobby for such legislation.

 

This Council further notes that, with barely a year to the start of the Olympics and the eyes of the world turning upon our great city, London’s public transport system cannot be allowed to be held hostage by a tiny minority of union militants.

 

This Council therefore also calls upon its three local MPs – Bob Blackman, Nick Hurd, and Gareth Thomas – to lobby for a “no-strike” deal to be in place in the run-up to and during the London 2012 Olympics.

 

This Council instructs the Chief Executive to write to The Mayor of London, the Greater London Assembly, Harrows three MPs and the Secretary of State for Transport to inform them of the content of this motion.”

 

(3)       Commendation of Staff Motion

 

 

To be moved by Councillor Nana Asante and seconded by Councillor Phillip O’Dell:

“This Council notes with great pleasure the contribution made by staff to winning the MJ Award for the Best Achieving Council. The Council notes the impressive journey of improvement, achievement and ambition. This Council also puts on record its thanks for the Leadership of the Chief Executive and his Senior Management Team who worked tirelessly with the present Administration to deliver £19 million in year savings.  We wish to place on record our thanks to staff for supporting residents in making Harrow the best performing borough for composting and second best for recycling.  It is a matter of record that Harrow is one of the safest London boroughs contributing less than 2% to London’s overall crime rate. 

We commend staff for embracing the Council’s new Vision: ‘Working together, our harrow, our Community’ and helping to deliver our new priorities:

·                  Keeping neighbourhoods clean, green and safe;

·                  United and involved communities: a Council that listens and leads;

·                  Supporting and protecting people who are most in need;

·                  Supporting our town Centre, our local shopping centres and businesses.

We place on record our thanks to all staff for their work in delivering the innovative ‘Let’s Talk’ campaign helping us transform service delivery and improve resident satisfaction.  It is thanks to our staff that Harrow is now a leader in personalisation, service for carers, engagement and reablement.  85% of Harrow’s schools are rated good or outstanding and our GCSEs place us in the top 12 LEAs in the country.  100% of Harrow’s Schools are judged by Ofsted to have good or outstanding standards of behaviour and safeguarding.  Harrow delivers the highest adoption rate in the country and credit for all the good work listed goes to our staff and partners.  Our staff led CREATE values have helped drive the transformation which has led to this well earned recognition by the MJ Awards.

The Council recognises that without our staff, we cannot keep the momentum and deliver innovation and improvements which benefit our residents.  It is a great pleasure to place on record our thanks and encourage them to keep the momentum for more extraordinary achievements in the future.”

 

 

Minutes:

(i)                 At item 16(2) the Council received a Motion in the names of Councillors Barry Macleod-Cullinane and Susan Hall in the following terms:

 

“This Council welcomes the efforts made by Harrow East MP Bob Blackman and London Assembly Member Richard Tracey, among others, to convince the Government of the merits of Unions being required to secure a majority of their total membership in favour of strike action before undertaking a strike.

 

This Council notes that:

 

·                       the estimated cost to London for each strike on the Underground and transport system is around £50 million per day;

 

·                       a recent opinion poll shows fewer than 1 in 4 believe Unions should be able to call a strike without requiring a majority of their membership voting for strike action;

 

·                       last summer’s strikes on the Underground network were trigged by the votes of only a third of RMT members;

 

·                       as an outer-London borough, Harrow relies heavily on the transport links provided by London Underground, and is therefore severely impacted when strike action closes tube lines.

 

This Council believes that it is imperative that legislation is passed swiftly requiring Unions to secure a majority of their entire membership in favour of strike action before calling a strike and calls upon Harrow’s three local MPs – Bob Blackman, Nick Hurd and Gareth Thomas – to lobby for such legislation.

 

This Council further notes that, with barely a year to the start of the Olympics and the eyes of the world turning upon our great city, London’s public transport system cannot be allowed to be held hostage by a tiny minority of union militants.

 

This Council therefore also calls upon its three local MPs – Bob Blackman, Nick Hurd, and Gareth Thomas – to lobby for a “no-strike” deal to be in place in the run-up to and during the London 2012 Olympics.

 

This Council instructs the Chief Executive to write to The Mayor of London, the Greater London Assembly, Harrows three MPs and the Secretary of State for Transport to inform them of the content of this motion.”

 

(ii)               There was an amendment in the names of Councillors Nana Asante and Jerry Miles, which sought to amend the Motion as follows:

 

“This Council notes the efforts made by Harrow East MP Bob Blackman and London Assembly Member Richard Tracey, among others, to convince the Government of the merits of Unions being required to secure a majority of their total membership in favour of strike action before undertaking a strike.  This Council notes:

 

·                     that in 2007 the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry estimated the cost to London for each strike on the Underground and the transport system is around £50 million per day and further notes that the Chartered Institute of Management (CMI) survey of more than 900 managers, published in March 2010, showed that 54% believed their organisations were prepared "to a great extent" for remote working;

 

·                     that it would be hypocritical to ask that Unions have a  majority of their total membership in favour of strike action before undertaking a strike given when that the Conservative Mayor of London was elected on a 45% turn out in the 2008 elections;

 

·                     that as an outer-London borough, Harrow relies heavily on the transport links provided by London Underground, and is therefore severely impacted when strike action closes tube line.

 

This Council is aware of the media campaign to seek a change in legislation to require Unions to secure a majority of their entire membership in favour of strike action before calling a strike and believes this to be totally disproportionate.

 

This Council believes that it is imperative that the Conservative Mayor of London meet the with the Trade Unions representing London Underground employees  face to face as soon as possible and strike a deal as soon as possible through negotiation similar to the one with London Overground with regards to the Olympics and calls upon Harrow’s three local MPs – Bob Blackman, Nick Hurd and Gareth Thomas to lobby the Mayor of London to ensure he meets with the Unions who represent London Underground workers including the RMT ASLEF, TSSA and UNITE.

 

This Council takes the opportunity to point out to the Conservative Mayor of London that Harrovians are fed up with inconvenient week?end closures, inadequate rail replacement service, the endless engineering works, delays, cancellations, and fare rises.  This Council notes with some concern that there was only one day in the last year when the Underground offered a good service on all lines for the whole day!

 

This Council notes that 43% of people think that the proposed pension reforms are wrong.  This is not surprising, public service workers are highly regarded by the general public and people know that the pay freezes and job losses that have been introduced are a deeply unfair consequence of the actions of highly-paid bankers from the private sector.

 

This Council further notes that taking lawful industrial action is a fundamental human right that workers in many undemocratic regimes are demonstrating for and being praised for so-doing by this Government.  Strong civil engagement and industrial action are a key to hope and progress.  This Council notes that workers are not ‘strike happy’, and that industrial action is a last resort.

 

This Council instructs the Chief Executive to write to the Conservative Mayor of London, the Greater London Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow, Harrow’s three MPs and the Secretary of State for Transport to inform them of the content of this motion.”

 

(i)                 Upon a vote, the amendment as (ii) was carried;

 

(ii)               Upon a vote the substantive Motion, as amended, was agreed.

 

RESOLVED:  That the substantive Motion, as amended and set out at (ii) above, be adopted.

 

Supporting documents: