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Hundreds of staff who take London's 999 police calls set to strike
Justin Davenport, Crime Editor4 Mar 2010
Hundreds of staff who take London's 999 police calls are set to strike next week as part of a national dispute.
The walkout could hit Scotland Yard's new multi-million-pound call centres which also dispatch fast-response cars.
More than 9,000 civil staff employed by the Met are being called out next Monday and Tuesday as part of industrial action by the Public and Commercial Services Union.
They include around 80 per cent of the staff in the force's three emergency call centres, traffic wardens, the Palace of Westminster's security guards and Police Community Support Officers.
Senior officers have held crisis meetings to discuss how to handle the strike. The Met says it has prepared contingency plans to ensure that “critical roles” are covered if staff walk out in large numbers.
Sources have told the Standard these include bringing in police officers on days off or giving them overtime to man phones. As a last resort, patrol officers from the Safer Neighbourhood Teams will be called.
Officers with skills to take 999 calls have been put on standby to man centres at Lambeth, Bow and Hendon, which receive a daily average of 5,763 emergency calls and 14,000 calls to the Met's new non-emergency number.
Around 80 per cent of the 2,000 staff in the Met's Central Communications Command are civilians following a multi-million-pound upgrade in emergency call centres five years ago.
The industrial action is being taken to protest government plans to reduce redundancy and early retirement awards. The union claims it is the first stage of an escalation in job cuts.
A Met spokeswoman said if the strike goes ahead: “We are confident that calls will be handled and officers will be available to help the public.”
Reader views (2)
- Pk, NW
The next time you're boss bullies you and doesn’t give you a pay rise or increases your work load / gives you unreasonable shifts... will just say - that's Ok? Unions for many are the only hope of being treated fairly at work. Without them companies will continue to have little or no regard for their workers. I hope Pk you are never a member of a union… and when you are mistreated at work there is no-one for you to turn to. Then you will no how it feels, being treated as an insignificant cog in works… Blame Scotland Yard… not the workers…
- Paul Byrne, London, 05/03/2010 13:11
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The staffs that walk out the door should not be allowed back in!!!! Its a disgrace that the Unions are allowed to hold the public to ransom like this!!
The extra staffs that the Met bring in will not be competent enough to deliver the same level of service that staffs with experience can give!
- Pk, NW, 04/03/2010 20:31
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