GMB
union members at Securicor cash services are taking industrial action over
plans to reduce cash delivery teams to one person.
Industrial
action will take place from midnight 14 April to midnight 17 April.
Securicor
staff handle two-thirds of the economy’s cash, or £1.5bn a day, as they refill
cash machines and deliver cash to and from banking institutions. The union said
there was a high rate of risk associated to this occupation, and has criticised
a proposal by Securicor to have single-operative units.
Current
pay rates for employees in the cash services division are £5.75 to £6.04 per
hour or £11,000 per annum. The company has offered a 2.5 per cent increase,
which has also been rejected.
The
members voted 82 percent in favour of strike action.
Brian
Strutton, GMB national secretary for Securicor said: "The company’s
failure to acknowledge the very serious safety issues arising from their
proposal to have employees work on their own has led to this strike action.
"Transporting
cash is a dangerous job and to reduce the teams to one is asking for an
increase in robberies and puts our member’s lives at risk.
"We
ask the public not to panic and only withdraw the amount of cash they need so
there is enough for everyone.
"Our
hope is that the company will drop its plans for lone employee cash deliveries
and return to the table with a decent pay offer."
