30.08.11
Civilian police staff strike in Nottinghamshire
Civilian staff protesting against cost-cutting by Nottinghamshire Police are on a 24-hour walkout today.
Further strike action is planned for Friday and members of the union Unison are also being asked to work to rule from 31 August until further notice.
Nottinghamshire Police plans to cut £46m by 2015, and the first stage of restructuring has already resulted in 170 civilian staff jobs lost. The second phase is estimated to see 746 further jobs at risk of redundancy.
After the force refused to enter into talks, Unison said: “We can do nothing else but hold our leaders entirely responsible for the reputational damage to the force, the detrimental loss of public confidence combined with the sheer waste of public money.”
Regional organiser Roger Young said: “It's not about the redundancies in themselves; it's about the way they're doing it. We feel that they're wasting resources and potentially identifying people to be made redundant who otherwise would not be so and they may have claims against the force.”
Assistant Chief Constable Ian Ackerley said: “We are extremely disappointed it has come to this as we believe industrial action will not benefit police staff, the organisation or ultimately the public of Nottinghamshire. We have contingency plans for all eventualities because we are an emergency service.”
Nottinghamshire Police said in a statement: “Nottinghamshire Police believes changes are necessary to reshape the force and transform the services it provides. It wants to become the best performing force in the country by 2015 but also has to make more than £40m in savings over the same period.”
Tell us what you think – have your say below, or email us directly at [email protected]