Preparing for national strike action - 03-07-2008

As public sector unions have announced a national two-day strike in July, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council is planning ahead to ensure disruption to services is kept to a minimum.

UNISON and Unite (Transport and General Workers Union) have called a strike for Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 July over the national pay settlement.

It is not yet clear how far this will affect services at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.

But as a precaution, the council meeting set to be held on the evening of Thursday 17 July has been moved to 6.30pm on Tuesday 15 July. Anyone wishing to speak in the public participation section at the start of the meeting should therefore let the council know by 12 noon on Monday 14 July, call 01256 844844 for more information.

Refuse and recycling collections will definitely not be affected and so residents whose collection day is Wednesday or Thursday should put their bins out as normal.

And the Whitchurch Town Council by-election will be going ahead as planned, with polls open at the Gill Nethercott Centre in Whitchurch from 7am to 10pm on Wednesday 16 July.

Chief Executive Tony Curtis said: "We have a very good working relationship with the unions. We have not had official confirmation from the local branch of Unison or Unite of what strike action they will take but there have been national announcements of a two-day strike on Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 July.

"It is not clear how much disruption to services there will be on these days and we are assessing how the action will impact upon individual services. We will be doing everything possible to keep inconvenience to a minimum."

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