IT staff at City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council will take industrial action next week unless the council and its outsourcing partner withdraw the threat of compulsory redundancies, according to public sector union Unison.
One hundred council IT staff voted 91% in favour of industrial action, said Pat Kerry, lead negotiator for the Unison union on the Bradford-i outsourcing project.
An all-out strike was planned for 23 and 24 June, with selective action on 25-27 June, Kerry said.
However, he said the councils was currently in negotiation with the union and a solution could be close. “I think we are nearly there, but we have to gain political approval,” Kerry said.
In May, the council increased the number of IT staff threatened with redundancy to 40 because of the £160m outsourcing deal with Serco, according to Unison.
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“IT staff are very unhappy about the way management and Serco have deal with this,” Kerry said. “If they do not come up with a settlement we will take industrial action.”
A Bradford council spokesperson said: “We regret that the staff have decided to take industrial action over the implementation of Bradford-i. Discussions are still ongoing with the trade unions involved and staff to seek a resolution on this.”
