EALING Council has been accused by Unite the Union of 'actively helping' Serco 'hound' a union rep out of his civil enforcement job in the borough.

Unite claims that a council officer wrote to Serco, requesting that the union rep be removed from his duties for bringing the council into 'disrepute'.

According to the union, the council officer justified the decision because the worker in question had stated on social media that Ealing Council would lose revenue from parking fines during an ongoing strike by Serco civil enforcement officers.

Unite continues on to say that the council is claiming that the worker 'conveys the council as a purely revenue generating authority.'

The union is also claiming that the same worker, along with a number of his colleagues, was previously offered a severance package by Serco in order to undermine trade union organisation, which resulted in the strike action earlier this month, which saw parking enforcement officers joined by Ealing's three MPs, Rupa Huq, Virendra Sharma and James Murray.

Unite said it is 'inconceivable' that a Labour council would 'unjustly intervene' in a dispute over union-busting in favour of an outsourcer, especially when it is party policy to bring services back in-house and all three Ealing MPs have spoken out in support of the striking workers.

Unite regional officer Clare Keogh said: "As the situation stands, Ealing's Labour-controlled council is actively helping Serco hound a union rep on strike for union-busting out of his job.

"An injury to one is an injury to all and the council should rest assured that Unite will use its full power to fight this injustice.

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"It is inconceivable that a Labour council would use trumped up charges to unjustly intervene in favour of an outsourcing company doing its utmost to undermine trade union organisation.

"This is just days after all three Ealing MPs joined the picket line in support of Serco's workers.

"The fact that this union rep can be so offhandedly culled from his position, after spending 20 years working on behalf of the council, is exactly why Labour stands against the pernicious impacts outsourcing has on jobs and services.

"Unite calls on every single Ealing councillor to speak out against this decision and for Mr Mason and his cabinet to reverse it with immediate effect.

"Mr Mason also has the opportunity to prove that his ambitious plans for Ealing come to more than just lip service by sacking Serco and bringing the civil enforcement team under council control."

An Ealing Council spokesperson said: "Ensuring workers are treated fairly remains a commitment for the council.

"We are currently working to secure a resolution on this issue as a matter of priority and both the leader and newly-elected deputy leader of the council met with Unite representatives on Thursday (May 20)."