London's Tax Collectors Go On Strike
Last week in London it was the strike everybody loved to hate, when drivers
on the city's Tube (metro) paralyzed the network for 24 hours; but this week
strikers went top of the pops with most citzens when the workers who collect
London's local taxes went on strike in a dispute over pay. The strikers are
responsible for collecting council tax - a charge levied on every resident to
pay for local services. Municipal staff unions say London's high housing and transport costs make it
hard for public sector workers to live in the capital, and want the London Weighting
doubled from GBP2,000 a year to GBP4,000 a year. Financial staff in nine of London's 32 boroughs began a week-long strike, saying
they would stage a series of strikes and protests until the government gives
in. "We have got more departments volunteering to come out and join the
strikes as the campaign gathers momentum," said Geoff Martin of the public-sector
union, Unison. "We are dug in for as long as it takes to get London's public
service workers a living wage." "The unions say they are targeting councils' bank balances, but it will
be vulnerable Londoners who will feel the impact," said employers' spokeswoman
Ann John. .
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